Hollow grinding questions

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Philadelph

Joined
May 23, 2008
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Hey everyone, I have a few questions about hollow grinding. I did a search and couldn't exactly find the answers so here goes-

Do you freehand or use a jig? If a jig- where did you get it (or did you make it)? Personally I think I'd prefer to just freehand everything, that way I know I don't NEED a jig. It's what I've been practicing doing so far, but I'm wondering if a lot of guys use a jig anyway.

Also, do you wear gloves or no? I have not been.

Lastly, do you tend to have a push-stick made up to support the bottom and back of the blade or do you just use your fingers/thumb? I know a lot of answers may vary here- I just think hearing people's input might help me figure out my own thing. Thanks for the ongoing inspiration!
 
Well... Lots of good questions here. When I started a number of years ago I made a jig since that is what I saw in the first knife making video I watched. It was not very long after asking other makers for advice that I found using a jig was not the way to go. Here is the best advice I was given "Throw those jigs in the trash. Get some wooden paint stir sticks from a hardware store and practice grinding on them. When you are getting repeatable results move to steel." That moved me to grinding knives free hand and rapidly building my confidence to grind reasonably well on most any knife.

Wearing gloves seems to be a personal preference from one maker to the next. Personally I do not wear gloves. I like to feel the heat of the blade when grinding. This allows for proper cooling of the blade in the slack bucket.

I just use my thumb rather than a push stick. Not to say that is good or bad, just the way I learned. Some folks swear by a push stick but I just don't use them. I do not use a support/rest of any kind either unless the blade is over ~12". You will learn what is comfortable to you by trying different ways of grinding.

Hope this helps...

Eric
 
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When i started I did mostly flat grinds, And they were all free hand. I used a rubber mallet as a push stick most of the time, if i could smell the rubber, then it's time to cool the blade. I have often pondered making a jig, but to me they were all to complicated. and in my opinion not practical. so now I forge all my bevels in with an old blacksmith's smoother dolly.

Jason
 
No jig, no gloves, no pushy things except when I am tapering a tang. Then I use a push stick magnet to hold the tang. The heat from the steel lets me know if I am going to fast and also I notice if my nail is a little to close and have pulled away with nothing more than some scratches on my nail. If I was wearing gloves I dont think I would notice till it grabbed me or got through the glove.
 
Freehand, I do wear gloves. I do my rough grinds(before heat-treat) with gloves. Doesn't matter how hot it gets, I cool every other pass or so. After heat-treat I go no gloves and watch the heat.
 
sharpeknives said:
Freehand, I do wear gloves. I do my rough grinds(before heat-treat) with gloves. Doesn't matter how hot it gets, I cool every other pass or so. After heat-treat I go no gloves and watch the heat.
Click to expand...

I do it this same way :thumbup:
I used a jig in the early days but I loaned it to somebody and never got it back so I was forced to do things freehand. That was the best thing that ever happened.
 
Freehand, no gloves. I do use a push stick from time to time on flat grinds, but not on hollow grinds.

Gloves around rotating equipment is extremely dangerous. Imagine if you will, getting your glove caught in the belt and it pulls your hand down, around and into the pulley. Now you're really going to get f****d up. It's not worth the chance of getting hurt IMHO. It only takes once and you might find your knifemaking career over and you won't be able to even write with that hand.

Someone here got caught in a drill press not too long ago, and it really mangled him up. If a drill press can do it, imagine how much a belt grinder can do at the high rotational speeds.
 
free hand no gloves

i have fingers odd steel now :)
and some knuckles that are a bit thinner

really you only touch the belt a few times before you learn not to put you fingers i to it :)

OK least mostly ( i bumped it 2 times yesterday)
 
You can get thin cotton gloves with a thin rubber coating on the fingers and palm. I love these things. The cotton doesn't conduct heat and the rubber keeps the cotton dry (so it doesn't conduct heat). These gloves are quite thin and do not feel like you're wearing gloves, but it prevents the distraction of a warming blade from screwing up your grind, and keeps your skin of your belts. You still dip just as often, just with less urgency.

I try not to grind much after HT.
 
Believe it or not ..after grinding many blades I think you have better control without a jig. You can raise and lower the grind lines much easier. I grind after heat treat and grind bare handed so I can feel the heat. Makes you dip in water after every pass. Your muscle memory will help you grind..but it takes time....maybe a huindred blades or so...maybe more.
 
I have trashed almost every kind of gloves, they were tore down by the abrasives (you cannot feel if you're grinding the gloves when you concentrated on the blade) or they were burned on the finger tips. I was worried of the glove consumption :p Now I learned to grind without gloves... But sometimes when the heat builds up on the steel and you burn the finger tip it is likely to ruin also the grind line in a rush. So I learned to dip the blade constantly to water even it doesnt seem too hot... No jig, not that I decided not to use it, but I'm too lazy to build one...

Emre
 
No gloves...But i do start with a homemade jig....Them its all freehand from there on....once i get a groove started i move it out of the way....And i have done over 300 blades....I only do hollow grinds...One of these days i will try to flat grind...Practise and more practise...................carl
 
I don't have a rest to rest jigs on so i always free hand. I did the wood stick practice in the early days it worked for me.

Gloves. I saw a fello get hurt a couple of weeks ago. I would not have belived it. He is a fello who is used to machines and making knives just had a day to remember. He was a bit supprised or shocked when it happened I asked him what happened and he was not sure we do know the flap of the glove some how got between the belt and the contact wheel. The whole thing was over in an instant. He was wearing thin gloves. His hand was pulled around the wheel and into the metal strut holding the wheel. LUCKY BASTARD, the glove stitching gave way before his wrist was broken or hand wripped off. He did get a nasty chunk out of his arm where it hit the steel. The wheels are spinning at least 1000 rpm so no time to think about it just a sudden pain and what the %#@# just happened. Scary stuff. I used to where gloves alot. I also have in the past wrapped some masking tape around my finger. It has limited succsess. It is got to be put on loose enough to get at leat a little bend in the joints.
 
I grind freehand and use a wooden push block. The knife blank gets hot and tends to burn into the push stick with time and develops a lip that helps holds the knife blank onto the push stick.

I have dip the blank and the wooden stick/block into water to keep things cool.

Grinding freehand prevents overheating of hardened blades by letting your hands know when the steel is getting hot.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I was already set on grinding without gloves after HT. I started by practicing to regrind blades so I know not to ruin the temper by watching the heat. Sounds like most guys who wear/wore gloves have had a problem with them at some point. Also, sounds like freehand is a good way to go, especially to gain experience through mistakes!
 
butcher_block said:
free hand no gloves

i have fingers odd steel now :)
and some knuckles that are a bit thinner

really you only touch the belt a few times before you learn not to put you fingers i to it :)

OK least mostly ( i bumped it 2 times yesterday)
Click to expand...

Ditto that , and sometimes you won't even know something happened until you see the blood . I cut the finger tips out of cheap gloves and wear them, you can still feel the heat they just help a little .
 
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