Hollow grinding Jig

Nathan House · Feb 14, 2000

I am new to knife making and I am looking
for a hollw grinding jig,I use a koote grinder with an 8 inch contact wheel I know Koval sells them but they want to much for them and I know they won't fit my grinder
is there anyone out there who custom makes them or know were I can get one at a good price,I would be greatful for any help
Thanks Nathan anyone with any info email me
I am looking to buy one,
house-house@mindspring.com

Kit Carson · Feb 14, 2000

Nathan,
Learn to grind free hand. Grinding jigs are too restrictive. Just takes practice and patience.

Allen Blade · Feb 15, 2000

Hello,

Yep i agree with Mr. Carson, Learn to free hand grind,,,its the only way to become Free with your creativity,plus the free Hand ground blade always looks better in my opinion(for what its worth).

And dont use any hand or thumb protection,,,that way you learn to feel the Steel while grinding and it never gets to hot
while grinding.

See ya, Allen

Fox · Feb 15, 2000

Kit and Allen, I am self taught and have never been able to get the hang of grinding free hand. I have read a number of books and probably have just never seen it done correctly so I am not certain how to perfect the technique. Do you grind with cutting edge up or down? I took a tip from Bob Engnath some years ago and use a piece of 3/4" round brass stock, clamped to my tool rest and rock the blade back and forth as needed with the cutting edge up. My grinds and plunge cuts come out nice and even (most of the time)!

To my knowledge this technique has not restricted my movement. However, I love knifemaking and am in it for the long term and relish the opportunity to learn the freehand grind. I would appreciate any recommendations for additional reading materials, videos, etc., that would help me to learn to do it freehand if it is indeed the superior way to hollow grind blades. Thanks.

Fox

Ryan Meyering · Feb 15, 2000

Fox, Allen Blade just made a flat grinding how-to video; it's mentioned in the Maker For Sale Forum. I'm buying one!

Ryan

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L6steel · Feb 15, 2000

When I'm grinding a drop point or a blade that has a relatively straight grind, it's not difficult to do freehand, but when I'm hollow grinding a 11" bowie blade with alot of belly and curve, I do not see how it can be done free hand. I use my home made jig for those. It's just a piece of angle Iron with a slot ground through it for the wheel to stick through. I still hold the blade in my hand, but the jig gives me something to let the blade rest on. If you guys can free hand hollow grind a big curvey blade, I sure would like to see your technique. Take care! Michael

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T. J. · Feb 16, 2000

I'm not sure that using a tool rest counts as totally freehanding a hollow grind, but here's a method that works great for large curved blades. I set the tool rest just a tiny bit below the center line of the contact wheel. Make yourself a small push stick about 1 in square and long enough to hold comfortably. Grind a 45 degree angle on one end so that about 1/2 inch of the stick (the bottom half) contacts the blade. Grind with the edge DOWN and push it into the contact wheel with the stick. Start at the ricasso plunge and pull the blade across the wheel toward the tip. When you get to the curve, lift up on the tang to allow the hollow grind to follow the curve up to the tip. To adjust the height of the grind, change the height of the push stick where it contacts the blade by grinding a little off of the tip to raise it, or grind a little on the angle to lower it. When you get to 1/16 of your center line, change hands and do it on the other side. Using the same height on the push stick you should be able to match the height of the hollow grind exactly with a little practice.

This works good for me on skinners and trailing point blades. I don't think you could do recurved blades this way though.

Once again, I didn't invent this myself, credit for the method goes to Don Morgan. Problems are probably due to my explanation.

James

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Nathan House · Feb 16, 2000

I am new to the knife making and i am green at terms
I keep hearing the word plunge,is this were the hollow grind starts at the back of the
blade,is there any videos that any body knows of how to hollow grind,someone give me some input.
Nathan

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