Grinding Tips?

[Alorene]

Well, this will be my first entry in the forums here, so this will serve as a brief introduction, as well. My name is Alorene, but my friends call me Aly, and I've been designing custom tactical and fixed blade weapons for a little over two years now, but fairly recently decided to give the actual making a go. Suffice it to say, I was hooked the first day of work.

On the down side, however, I'm not the most skilled out there. I have yet to complete a knife, and have even been forced to start one or two pieces over entirely. My primary difficulty is with grinding edges. There are two primary factors to this problem. Firstly, I use an older low grade belt grinder I picked up at a garage sale for this step. And, second, my hands have this tendency to tremble constantly and not hold still, therefore producing an uneven edge. Old war wound... I have little difficulty with general shaping, however.

So, my question is this; Do any of you have any suggestions for steadying my hands while working, special grinding techniques, cheap edge grinding equipment or attachments, etc.? I'd hate to have to go back to just designing, so any help whatsoever is greatly appreciated.

I've seen some great blades displayed here on the forums, and even though I know I'm not much of a match for most anyone here, my ultimate goal would simply be to be able to display one completed knife here for all to see. Perhaps not the most ambitious goal, but I'd settle for it in a heartbeat. I thank you all in advance, in case I don't have the opportunity to do so later.

Fair journey
Alorene V. F.

 

[Mike Hull]

You might try those wrist braces that go around the thumb, lower palm and wrist.
I have a broken right wrist that never healed properly and the bones are actually seperated. No doctors here want to do anything about it, so I just try and be careful how I twist my hand under load. When it gets real bad I use a wrap around brace as mentioned above and it helps a lot.

You can get many different types at China-Mart, in the pharmacy section.

Another way would be to find more comfortable ways to hold the blade while grinding bevels.
I don't know how you grind so I can't be of any help in that respect.

Good luck to you however you go.


Edited to add: An inexpensive way to practice using your hands in more comfortable ways is to use lattice strips from the lumber yard. Lay out the pattern on the strip and cut it out, centermark the edge and grind it just like a steel blade. You only have to use a 60 grit belt that will last forever on the wood strips so it's cheap practice. Teaches you needed control in bevel grinding too. mjh

 

[PlaceKnives]

Like you, I too have a cheap Sears belt sander that not even adequate to grind edges. The belt drifts to one side, the platen is crooked etc. What I do is use the belt sander to remove as much material as I can, or feel comfortable doing then I draw file the rest of the edge by hand. A piece of equipment I couldn't live without is my File Guide. It's 2 hardended pieces of steel that clamp on your blade, you can file right up against it and get perfectly straight plunge cuts and it gives the file somewhere to stop. You can get them through Sheffield Knifemakers Supply. Hope this helps.

 

[grease-man]

I have a "high grade" grinder, and still don't get the results that I would like to see. The fact of the matter is, I have not used it enough to get the results that I would like. Practice on whatever grinder you have, good or crappy. You will improve. Most of the blades i've turned out so far, forged or stock removal, ended up in the trash. I share the same goal as you, some day finish a knife that, I can display and be proud of. Not the most ambitious goal? HA! That is a very ambitous goal! The fact that you even made it as far as "trying" to make a knife, is a testament to your ambition! When you accomplish that goal, set a new one. Our goals are what keep us in this. Just don't give up, ever.
As far as suggestions for steadying hands, maybe try to fashion some kind of work rest, if that is possible, or have someone make one for you. I don't have any more suggestions, I'll leave those up to the more experienced makers here. I just wanted to encourage you to not give up. Knife making is not easy, so take it one day at a time, one step at a time. Thanks for listening to me ramble, sorry this was so long.

 

[Alorene]

Thank you all for your suggestions thus far. they've all been most helpful as I continue to experiment with ways to make it all work. I find that I've still much to learn about creating bladed weapons by hand. Things are so much easier with pencil and paper, or even CAD software. But there's no challenge to that, which saps all the fun out of the act. It ought to be fun to figure out ways around my... problems. Thanks again.

-Aly

(And, as an amendment, I have completed as single knife. The first I ever worked on, in fact. It was a rather simple, skeletal piece intended for a specific purpose. It now belongs to a very talented sculptor and artist living in Washington state. She tells me she uses it daily in her work. But somehow, I never took much pride in how it turned out...)