Gough jig and filing

[Desertfrogman]

Hey all just started my first knife. Its a drop point bowie with a 9" blade and drop handle out of 01 tool steel. I am using the Gough jig and a Kobalt 10" double cut bastard file. I am no slouch when it comes to metal fabrication and metal working tools been building cars, guns, and other toys for years.

However, this thing is really giving me a run for my money. I am still learning the jig but it's taking forever it seems, I am maybe halfway done with the primary bevel after 6 hours.

I would like to know if anyone has any tips or tricks to reduce file time. I have tried draw filing with a milling file, but pushing with the double cut seems to yield the best results so far.

How tight should I get to the center line? Some people I see bringing the blade to a point before heat treating, some I see bring it down to about the thickness of a penny.

Also, this steel is tough...I feel like heat treating will make it impossible to work.

Let me know what you guys think so far! Going with a really nice piece of Bocote for the handle and 3/16 SS rod.

 

[duurza]

Drawfiling would be a faster way to remove material especially if you have a double cut. Finish it off with this jig. What is the thickness of your steel?

 

[12345678910]

Get a bigger file with a coarser cut

Say a 14" bastard



If one side is worn out, flip it.


Try a better file than Home Depot crap

 

[kuraki]

The fastest cutting file pattern I've gotten my hands on is McMaster part number 4224A14. This is a 14" "rapid cut" file with a diamond tooth pattern. I'm not saying it's the fastest file out there, but of all the double cuts I've tried, it's the fastest, and of good quality. McMaster won't tell you the mfg of their items as they change, but they're generally of good quality.

 

[Desertfrogman]

Thanks for the input. I have a bunch of 10" and 12" Nicholson files but they were dull so I grabbed a coulple of what I thought were decent files from the local lowes. Not much cheaper than Nicholson might I add. Any other band recommendations?

I have tried draw filing which also works on the jig it just doesn't seem to be as accurate or remove as much as pushing with the double cut.

The steel is 3/16 so it's fairly thick but nothing crazy.

 

[duurza]

When I drawfile, I don't expect it to be accurate at all. It's just done to remove as much material as possible and get the shape as close as possible to finish.

When I was working on my sword (O1 3/16 thick), I drawfiled for about 30/72 hours to get the shape right. Then with a ruler and a finer file, I continued drawfiling the sections that weren't flat until I got it to what I want. That took the remaining 42 hours.

Get your profile as close as possible to finish first and then go over slowly to correct everything.

 

[Desertfrogman]

Okay so I'm not going crazy it really does take this long. I am going to look into a 14" file interested in the McMaster rapid cut.

 

[rybobales]

Yeah a more aggressive file will help a lot. Also using chalk and a file card will help keep your file clean of chips longer and allow you to cut more aggressively.

FWIW that is also a large blade for the Gough jig, so i'd say that is really the reason it's taking so much longer. As many others on BF I did a few larger ones that way and quickly decided a belt grinder was needed.

 

[chopsuey9999]

A file card would be useful for this amount of filing - your file may not necessarily be getting dull - just filled up and slowing down progress. I found a cheap 1x30 grinder works well for a beginner ( might not last too long though).

 

[12345678910]

Thanks for the input. I have a bunch of 10" and 12" Nicholson files but they were dull so I grabbed a couple of what I thought were decent files from the local Lowes. Not much cheaper than Nicholson might I add. Any other brand recommendations?

If they were good files, you can sent them to Boggs and get them resharpened.
Shipping is the most expensive part

http://www.boggstool.com/page5.html


I can get Simonds here
http://simondsint.com/handfiles/Pages/default.aspx


and Pferd
http://www.pferdusa.com/company/contact.html

 

[ColdForged]

6 hours does seem a bit long, but then again that's a lot of edge you're doing. I did the same thing for my very first attempt, in 3/16" O1, on a Gough jig and it took me about 45 minutes per side with a double-cut bastard file. I was only doing about 3/4" of bevel, though, and my blade was only about 3 1/2" long.

Is it possible your steel was not annealed?

 

[Desertfrogman]

Thanks for all the input. Yeah great files always used them on wood I will check into having them sharpened.

Definitely also going to try chalk and a file card.

It's possibe the steel wasn't annealed. How do I tell? It was hard as a mother to grind and cut...I know I didn't anneal it.

 

[AF]

Does that jig allow you to put a lot of pressure on the file? I file freehand and my left hand rests at the top of the file and I apply a lot of pressure. The handle of the file is braced against my body. Removes metal very fast.

 

[Natlek]

Hey all just started my first knife. Its a drop point bowie with a 9" blade and drop handle out of 01 tool steel. I am using the Gough jig and a Kobalt 10" double cut bastard file. I am no slouch when it comes to metal fabrication and metal working tools been building cars, guns, and other toys for years.

However, this thing is really giving me a run for my money. I am still learning the jig but it's taking forever it seems, I am maybe halfway done with the primary bevel after 6 hours.

I would like to know if anyone has any tips or tricks to reduce file time. I have tried draw filing with a milling file, but pushing with the double cut seems to yield the best results so far.

How tight should I get to the center line? Some people I see bringing the blade to a point before heat treating, some I see bring it down to about the thickness of a penny.

Also, this steel is tough...I feel like heat treating will make it impossible to work.

Let me know what you guys think so far! Going with a really nice piece of Bocote for the handle and 3/16 SS rod.

I use file jig to .Next time try to file in two or three step. File the first time at a greater angle from both sides .Then reduce the angle and file to the upper limit .This way in any step you file less surface and goes much faster , and is more accurate ........

 

[Desertfrogman]

What I have noticed is the angle slightly changes the further I get from the center so I will have to correct it. Worked for another hour tonight. Next knife I will work the opposite way steeper angle to more shallow. Seems to be the way to go.

Thanks for all the tips. What edge thickness should I stop at?

 

[Desertfrogman]

What I have noticed is the angle slightly changes the further I get from the center so I will have to correct it. Worked for another hour tonight. Next knife I will work the opposite way steeper angle to more shallow. Seems to be the way to go.

Thanks for all the tips. What edge thickness should I stop at?

 

[duurza]

Thanks for all the input. Yeah great files always used them on wood I will check into having them sharpened.

Definitely also going to try chalk and a file card.

It's possibe the steel wasn't annealed. How do I tell? It was hard as a mother to grind and cut...I know I didn't anneal it.

If you have ever heated it past red hot, you probably no longer have the softest state possible. Otherwise, when drawfiling, you should be able to remove material quite quickly. When I was rapidly drawfiling, I could remove about 1/64 inch of material (or more) off the surface per stroke.

What I have noticed is the angle slightly changes the further I get from the center so I will have to correct it. Worked for another hour tonight. Next knife I will work the opposite way steeper angle to more shallow. Seems to be the way to go.

Thanks for all the tips. What edge thickness should I stop at?

I was told to leave at the minimum 1/32 inch. You typically want a bit more material to reduce the chances of cracks forming during the quench but if you marquench (isn't too difficult), there really isn't a reason why they should develop.

 

[Desertfrogman]

Never heated it past red hot. Never heated it at all, possibly just local areas by the grinder but definitely not red hot.

I don't know how to accurately measure how much material I'm removing per swipe I'd venture to guess it''s much less but I am removing it over a large surface area equal to most of the width of the bevel. I'm st 0.09 now or 3/32 using the micrometer. I need to even it out some but if I had to guess it's going to take me another few hours to get down to 1/32.

One thing I notice is that when coming back to filing it feels like I'm filing over a sheet of glass like it's not biting at all for a few swipes then the file starts to bite.

 

[duurza]

Yeah I experienced that as well. Check the file to make sure there aren't metal bits clogging the teeth and just continue on.

Don't quote me on this but it could be a layer of oxide developing on the surface.

 

[Natlek]

Never heated it past red hot. Never heated it at all, possibly just local areas by the grinder but definitely not red hot.

I don't know how to accurately measure how much material I'm removing per swipe I'd venture to guess it''s much less but I am removing it over a large surface area equal to most of the width of the bevel. I'm st 0.09 now or 3/32 using the micrometer. I need to even it out some but if I had to guess it's going to take me another few hours to get down to 1/32.

One thing I notice is that when coming back to filing it feels like I'm filing over a sheet of glass like it's not biting at all for a few swipes then the file starts to bite.

If you make this tool , it will save you time and effort when you hand sanding blade after HT .........