Grinding bevels pre or post heat treat

R

Randydb

Joined
Sep 27, 2014
Messages
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Hi,
I finally profiled my first blades today on the 2x72 that I made from Dan Comeau's website. I had a lot of fun. I didn't create these designs. They were from Dan's website too. I just want to try grinding bevels first and get a bit of experience there before I go for the full process. I have done lots of handles on blanks, now I will grind bevels and hopefully come up with some reasonable blades. Get someone else like JT to do the heat treatment.

I wanted to do stainless because I live on the wet coast where things rust easily. Canadian knife maker didn't have 1/8" AEB-L when I was ordering so I wound up with S35VN and W2.

Also want to admit that I bought a bubble jig and plan to do my bevels using it.

So finally my question. Should I be grinding bevels on these before or after sending them for heat treat? I see that AEB-L is often ground post heat treat. Is that normal for these steels too?

One other question. I profiled these using a 36 grit belt. How many blanks should I be able to profile before a belt is done. I can see this one is done after 8 profiles....probably should have been changed after 7 as the last one was a lot slower and hotter as I did it.

Thanks, I am pretty excited about grinding bevels!IMG_1392.jpg
 
First, remember to drill your handle holes before heat treatment.

You can take S35v almost to finish before heat treatment.

W2 personall since it is quenched I would take it to 70% completed and then finish post HT.
 
I agree with above poster. I think it’s “Adam”? With the S35vn...grind it down to final dimensions and get the final polish you want done prior to sending it to JTK (or wherever).

For W2, especially if chasing “Hamon”, grind most of the bevels prior to HT. 70% is a good estimate. When going after Hamon, it’s always best to have the main bevel formed prior to HT. If the goal is NOT Hamon formation, I would just say grind it all post heat treat, if the spine thickness is 1/8” and under. But we often use W2 for Hamon, and as so the Hamon formation is best when the edge has already been ground. (Thinner edge thicker spine). This allows the edge to cool quicker, aiding the Hamon formation.
 
H
AVigil said:
First, remember to drill your handle holes before heat treatment.

You can take S35v almost to finish before heat treatment.

W2 personall since it is quenched I would take it to 70% completed and then finish post HT.
Click to expand...

Handle holes....that crossed my mind just before I read your post. Need to make sure I get that one done before I send off or I will be sorry.

Seeing as I am a beginner, what does 70% completed look like?
 
I love hamons. Will people who offer heat treat services do hamons too? If I get some decent grinds here I would love to get the w2 done with hamons. So I would grind to about 70% complete before sending for heat treat if I wanted to get a hamon done.

All of this steel is 1/8".

New question, I should be hollow grinding these...not flat grinding? Do certain styles require different grinds? Do hamons require flat grinds?
 
Randydb said:
One other question. I profiled these using a 36 grit belt. How many blanks should I be able to profile before a belt is done. I can see this one is done after 8 profiles....
Click to expand...
You didnt say what kind of belt you were using, I use 3m ceramic belts and could profile give or take 25 on a belt.
 
Flat grinds is good for kitchen for a beginner and some makers that's all they use
Later down the line when you're more confident grinding id go for convex grind
 
Did you cut out blanks or just profile from rectangular stock??? That makes a difference on Belt Life. Cutting a blank close to dimension will give you less to grind and belt should last 20-30 profiles(36 grit ceramic).

Since these are your first Blanks to Grind and you have a bubble jig stick with Flat Grinds. I would concentrate on basics not chasing a Hamon that should come after you perfect your grinding skills. Once you can control a good flat grind even on both sides of the blade then you can try hollow grinding which take a little more control to get good even hollows on both sides.
 
I can't speak to w2 but s35vn without out a doubt before heat treat. Nice thing about s35VN is it stays straight during the heat treat.

If you move on to AEB-L you will likely need to straighten some warps after heat treat so I prefer to grind after heat treat. I also find it grinds better post heat treat anyway. AEB-l can feel gummy and grabs the belt making clean grinding hard pre heat treat. At lest in my limited experience anyways.

I'm a canuk as well that started about 1.5 years ago and found Dans Site to be a great resource. I also started with s35vn and AEB-l once I made my oven.
 
if its 1/8" stock i would go with flat ground. if the wheel is too small you will grind thru the center of the knife :)
 
I love AEB-L and have gone to 100% post HT. I do have a coolant spray on my grinder for wet grinding though.
 
Spalted said:
You didnt say what kind of belt you were using, I use 3m ceramic belts and could profile give or take 25 on a belt.
Click to expand...
I had a Norton 36 grit Blaze belt on. But I also had used it to grind some other things over time so it isn't really a something I should measure on this belt.
 
john april said:
if its 1/8" stock i would go with flat ground. if the wheel is too small you will grind thru the center of the knife :)
Click to expand...

My students made bird and trout knives out of 1/8th AEB-L blanks made for us by Cariboo Knives and those are hollow grind. But they aren't a very tall blade either. I could see that skinning knife having problems with a hollow grind.
 
You didn't ask this, but instead of 5 different designs, try 30 of the same pattern and an easier grinding steel.

Repetition and perfection on the same thing until you move to something different.

I consider 36 grit too coarse for me. If you're profiling with it - it's way too easy to strip the grit.
The first time I profiled, I could feel the grit flying off and hitting me in the face however it wasn't a ceramic belt.
 
Ye the 36 grit would blind you on a new belt it hits so much in the face.and that's after taking a trip all around the belt.
But after forging nothing does it like 36 grit
 
Randydb said:
Hi,
I finally profiled my first blades today on the 2x72 that I made from Dan Comeau's website. I had a lot of fun. I didn't create these designs. They were from Dan's website too. I just want to try grinding bevels first and get a bit of experience there before I go for the full process. I have done lots of handles on blanks, now I will grind bevels and hopefully come up with some reasonable blades. Get someone else like JT to do the heat treatment.

I wanted to do stainless because I live on the wet coast where things rust easily. Canadian knife maker didn't have 1/8" AEB-L when I was ordering so I wound up with S35VN and W2.

Also want to admit that I bought a Bubble Jig and plan to do my bevels using it.

So finally my question. Should I be grinding bevels on these before or after sending them for heat treat? I see that AEB-L is often ground post heat treat. Is that normal for these steels too?

One other question. I profiled these using a 36 grit belt. How many blanks should I be able to profile before a belt is done. I can see this one is done after 8 profiles....probably should have been changed after 7 as the last one was a lot slower and hotter as I did it.

Thanks, I am pretty excited about grinding bevels!View attachment 1094187
Click to expand...

Randy,
Many of the knife makers on these threads have a Bubble Jig in the shop, just as you have. Stacy, our moderator on this particular forum, has one in his shop. He uses it to grind specific requested edge grinds. There is no need to admit to owning one, or using one, it's become a standard shop tool these days. We have shipped them to 30 different countries; there's a guy making hunting knives that lives very close to the North Pole. They are popular in Australia and Austria, no kangaroos in the latter.

Do us a favor and post these blades after you have them ground. I for one would like to see your results. You have bitten off a good challenge for yourself. Go for it.

You have our 800 number here, give me a call if you get stumped or need a little direction,

Regards, Fred
 
Fred, I wasn't thinking I was cheating or "less than" for using the bubble jig. I was just trying to let people who might give advice know what my set up/method was going to be. I didn't mean to make it sound negative when I said "admit."
 
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