Grinding a recurve

Jonathans

Jonathans

Joined
Jan 9, 2008
Messages
588
I would like to try my hand at grinding a hollow ground recurve blade as per Rod Chappel or Bill Luckett. Not that I think I will accomplish that anytime soon, but perhaps I can make progress in increments. So far I have only flat ground. Are there any tips to keep in mind, or is the a DVD out there to help get me going, or is it going to be "get the metal to the belt and practice"?
 
Practice will be your best teacher, along with some trial and error. One thing that might give you some advantage is a 1" wide contact wheel, especially if grinding tighter recurve. Not necessary by any means, but it is a little more versatile for inside curves.
 
Scribing a line on your blade that represents your grind height will help.

Grinding a recurve with a grind that mirrors the edge is probably the most difficult grind to do properly.

If it is a very tight recurve, you might want to try a 1" contact wheel.

It's mostly just a matter of practice.
 
conceptually the trick is to keep the belt travel direction exactly perpendicular to the cutting edge, depending on how "tight" your recurve is you may have some trouble.

I frequently grind entirely on the edge of my platen (i flat grind my recurves, same concepts for hollow except it really matters where you are on the wheel)
 
Thanks guys. I'll start playing around with it and see where I end up. I appreciate the suggestions.
 
I talked to Bill Luckett about his grinds last year at a show and he told me that he actually grinds all his knives with the edge down. I don't know how that would work but, he says there was no Internet when he started and he didn't have anyone to tell him there was a better way. I have had some good results grindIng off the edge of the wheel on recurves. Splitting your belts and using a one inch wheel doubles the number of edges per purchased belt.

Bob
 
I just experimented until I got it down fairly decently. Basically I start at the plunge using pressure on the plung side of the flat platen. Then as I move the grinding strike across the length of the blade to what I guess you'd call the belly of the blade I move the pressure to the center of the platen. Then toward the tip finish as normal. Check your grind lines often and keep the leading edge of the belt from digging into the recurve and you'll get it.
 
You can have a 1" wheel if you have a 2" X say 8". Just take a roll of masking tape and lay it in the center of the 2" Apply mas many layers as you think you need to build it up and give it a try. I have done this many times. As well I recommend you place your attention on your scribed lines and as you take the blade across focus your attention on keeping the blade the same distance from the belt all the way across.
Frank
 
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