grinding edge on a heat treated blade

I've used a Dremel tool and grinding stone to good effect, just use a very light touch and keep it cool.
 
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Ideally, a belt grinder for your tool. If you don't have one, a (stone) bench grinder will work, but it will give you a concave (hollow) grind, due to its round shape. As mentioned by another poster, a dremel tool will also work. Whichever tool you've got, take it slow and keep the steel cool! The way that I keep the steel from heating is give the blade 1 or 2 passes each side on the belt grinder, then dunk it in a bucket of water. Remember to grind evenly on each side. This method has given me good results. By the way, whatcha grinding?
 
Assuming that the knife is basically finished and the sheath is ready for the knife. (I say this because sharpening is the last step in the knifemaking process before the knife is ready to be used or shipped to customers).
Put a fresh 120 grit belt on your grinder and a pail of water at hand to cool the blade as you sharpen. Set your grinder speed to a slow one if your machine is variable speed. Using a light gentle touch create the cutting bevels. Cool the blade regularly by dipping it in the water. Once the two cutting edges meet, replace the 120 grit belt with a 240 or even 320 and finish the cutting edge. The knife will now be ready for final hand sharpening on a hone or ceramic rods of your choice. A few quick strokes and the blade should be shaving sharp.:cool:
 
It depends on the steel, as different ones have different levels of heat resistance, it can be as low as 325 F or well over 1000 F. The geometry and raw size of the knife makes a huge difference as well. It is very difficult to overheat a large blade with a thick edge, a small blade with a very thin edge can be overheated in one pass if you grind thin and apply even moderature pressure on a low tempered steel.

-Cliff
 
The only grinding I do on my blades I do with my water cooled grinder unit known as the TORMEK. I have had super luck re-profiling with my TORMEK. With the grinding stone being constanly wet I can really take my time and not worry about over-heating. It's a little slower than a conventional grinder but I'm in no hurry.
 
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