Grinding advice please.

[mgysgthath]

I guess I was also assuming that if I made a mistake on blade there would be a way for me to fix it, but now I've come to the realization that sometimes you just messed it up beyond repair.

One of the nice things about custom knives is that unless you have a specific design you have to make for someone, it's pretty forgiving in that you can reprofile and keep changing the blade to suit your needs. I was making a Fallkniven F1 copy (my first stock removal knife) and by the time I was done it was a good inch shorter hehe I think all the mistakes are good practice and I appreciate everyone here sharing their stories, it makes it not seem like a failure but part of a normal learning curve.

 

[NickWheeler]

Hey, I wouldn't have blamed you if you DID expect that grinder to be a magic bullet.... I think they are slick enough to be called just that!

My best recommendation would be to find somebody you think does superlative grinding, and see if you can work out a visit. Just being a fly on the wall is great, an actual class if the guy is a good teacher is even better--- which can be hard to know until you're in his shop. Some guys that are only decent knife makers, are pretty great teachers. Some that are GREAT makers are crappy teachers. The are some, like Mike Vagnino.... that is great at both. Mike really helped me with some things I was having issues with several years ago.