Full flat ground chef

Essentially yes, but at a 2 pr 3 degree angle. Whatever your angle needs to be. I think once you try it out it will make more since. I started off with a grinder. I went to a fellas shop and asked a bunch of questions. Problem was, I had never ground a knife with a grinder so I didn't really understand what he was saying. Also I didn't know what questions to ask. After I ground a few, and screwed up a few, I went back and had a list of questions. It was easier for me to understand what he was saying and know what I wanted to ask. Get some mild steel or just some 1084. I didn't practice with mild steel because it grinds different than carbon or stainless. However I messed up a bunch of 440c. Get on the grinder and don't worry about messing up. Just chalk it up to education expenses!
hellspawn415 said:
So the transition would be at about a 135 degree point between the flat 45 degree edge, and would I press that directly to the platten?
Click to expand...
 
One last clarification, with this talk of grinding in a 45 degree bevel, are we referring to the andle as to the flat stock? so that the edge would come together at 90 degrees? or are we saying that the end bevel will be at 45 degrees, so two 22.5 degree bevels are ground into the stock?
 
45 degree is just a general number. 30, 40, 50 degree, it doesn't matter really. All you are doing with this angle is setting the initial edge thickness to give you a point to work to. It just makes it easier than trying to do it all with the main bevel.
hellspawn415 said:
One last clarification, with this talk of grinding in a 45 degree bevel, are we referring to the andle as to the flat stock? so that the edge would come together at 90 degrees? or are we saying that the end bevel will be at 45 degrees, so two 22.5 degree bevels are ground into the stock?
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Ahhhh. I have done bevels on the grinder, I just felt they weren't quite right and wanted to find some tech-quince to back myself up with.
 
Here is an image I just mocked up that demonstrates "progressive angle grinding" a knife bevel. As you can see, just as Rookie25 said, the initial 45 degree grind just sets your desired edge thickness for either your pre-heat treat rough grinding or your post- heat treat finish grinding... Hope it helps :)

Edited to add: This approach to grinding makes grinding go faster, it produces much less heat due to less surface area being in contact with the belt, and it helps produce "crisper" grinds, IMHO.

progressive%20angle%20grinding%20steps_zps8nr2ftfk.jpg


~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
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I dont know if that is a newbie attachment. I feel like we need a posting for people coming out of the newbie stages. You get the basics of heat treating, bevels, you know you wont make any swords or anything, but are now looking to go from "a guy who can make a knife" to "a guy who makes really nice knives"
 
Maelstrom78 said:
Helpful pictures for the newbie subslimed. That maybe should go into The Count's newbie posting.
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Thanks man, just trying ta help :) I know diagrams like that always help me get a better understanding of what people are trying to explain. That would be pretty cool though if the Count immortalized something that I made in his main post for newbies :cool: :D


~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
Thanks for the hep Coldsteelburns. Like they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words".
coldsteelburns said:
Thanks man, just trying ta help :) I know diagrams like that always help me get a better understanding of what people are trying to explain. That would be pretty cool though if the Count immortalized something that I made in his main post for newbies :cool: :D


~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
Click to expand...
 
hellspawn415 said:
I dont know if that is a newbie attachment. I feel like we need a posting for people coming out of the newbie stages. You get the basics of heat treating, bevels, you know you wont make any swords or anything, but are now looking to go from "a guy who can make a knife" to "a guy who makes really nice knives"
Click to expand...

What type of content would you like to see posted in a "moderate knifemaker" thread? In my mind, the newbie fundamentals of grinding, heat treating, design, etc etc etc are what you "really" need to know, because from there, what makes you grow and become a better knifemaker is continuing to develop and master those skills. Once you master all the fundamentals of making a knife (which I believe most mastersmiths/ knifemakers still strive to get even better at than they already are) the rest is just creativity it would seem. But yea, I'd be interested in what you have in mind and also think it would be pretty cool to hear what others could think of to go in a thread like that.

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
 
coldsteelburns said:
What type of content would you like to see posted in a "moderate knifemaker" thread? In my mind, the newbie fundamentals of grinding, heat treating, design, etc etc etc are what you "really" need to know, because from there, what makes you grow and become a better knifemaker is continuing to develop and master those skills. Once you master all the fundamentals of making a knife (which I believe most mastersmiths/ knifemakers still strive to get even better at than they already are) the rest is just creativity it would seem. But yea, I'd be interested in what you have in mind and also think it would be pretty cool to see what other people could think of to go in a thread like that.

~Paul
My YT Channel Lsubslimed
Click to expand...


Im not quite sure. I think comparing different steels, comparing the differences of flat, scandi, convex and hollow, If it came to it im sure i could give a nice thorough write up on exotic woods for handles. Kinda opening up into choices. You can make the knife but now you can chose a specific handle with the wood you want, the steel with the characteristics you want, the grind that suits you. That kind of thing. But also getting into the more application aspect sof it I guess. Things like learning the proper grinding technique, improving your finish, That kind of thing.
 
I think finding the Holy grail would be easier.


What you are asking for is what is learned by experience. No tutorial, sticky, or book can give you experience. The forums are filled with great information on the subjects that you mentioned, but there is no real way to tell someone how "walking a bevel up the blade" feels in your hands.

Make knives, critique and test them,...make more knives.

BTW, here is the BF search engine to find nearly any topic;
https://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra
 
^^^ Just go try it! The most helpful graphic added by Mr. Steelburns (picture Shaft-like knifemaking hero) depicts intellectually what your hands will now have to learn. Don't forget to have good lighting at your grinder.
 
Salem Straub said:
^^^ Just go try it! The most helpful graphic added by Mr. Steelburns (picture Shaft-like knifemaking hero) depicts intellectually what your hands will now have to learn. Don't forget to have good lighting at your grinder.
Click to expand...
Word!! You will be surprised at how accurate your USGI standard Mod 24 Calibrated Eyeballs can be at seeing if stuff is straight and even , BUT you must have proper lighting and sometimes, a proper contrasting background for them to work most efficiently. ;)
 
Some of you cats are making this WAY more complicated than it really is!

coldsteelburns said:
Here is an image I just mocked up that demonstrates "progressive angle grinding" a knife bevel.

progressive%20angle%20grinding%20steps_zps8nr2ftfk.jpg
Click to expand...

That's pretty much how I grind bevels. Just start at the edge and work back towards the spine. It's simple. ("simple" is not necessarily "easy"... this stuff does take practice. )

Don't over-think it, ladies and gentlemen. Design the overall geometry based upon what you want to cut/slice/chop/slash. Choose good quality steel and HT that allows the characteristics you prefer. Grind away everything that doesn't cut. Make sure it has a comfortable handle.

That's literally all there is to making a high-performance knife. Everything else is just a bonus.
 
Just to complicate things further, kitchen knives are an area where you can get really crazy with compound grinds and such. Prepare for your head to explode a few times if you choose to pursue this type of knifemaking, ;)
 
I've found the head-exploding thing to be vastly overblown, and mostly perpetuated by people who neither make nor use a lot of kitchen knives. Relax. It either cuts cleanly or it doesn't. This is not rocket-surgery.
 
True. If you want to keep it simple and avoid cranial deflagration, I say go with the flat grind with the tall convex edge thinned out like I mentioned earlier. :D
 
As a noob, this is a really good thread. I'm just getting to the point where I am starting to "feel" the grind.
Learning with a 14 wheel and a flat platen. Just getting ready to start my first tall kitchen blades at 2 inches, just to see how it goes.
I fully expect to mess up a bunch of them, but I plan to wring a good bunch of lessons out of that steel before I scrap it.

Thanks for all the great tips!
 
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