How do YOU make your fullers?

H

haywire1

Joined
Sep 11, 2011
Messages
4
Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm curious as to how folks are making fullers straight and even. Is there a rule of thumb as to how deep or wide they should be? Are there any pitfalls to avoid? I'm just starting to set up shop with focus on making knives. I'm comfortable with machine tools and my first thought was simply to cut them in the mill like I would cut a key way. Another thought was using a mill table or jig and grinding them with a Foredom or Dremel tool. Are there more traditional ways to do it? What about the guy s that don't have a mill?

Thank you!
 
The first rule is to make the depth of each groove less than half the thickness of the blade.

Generally they are machined in on the mill with round end cutters. Make the first passes with a 1/4" round end bit. Stop at about 90% the desired depth.Then go up in bit diameter until you get the desired width.
 
I came awfully close to putting a fuller in Japanese style blade but backed off knowing I would likely destroy the piece. :p

Traditionally in Japanese blades they are scraped in using a special tool, then refined with stones.
http://www.ksky.ne.jp/~sumie99/makinghi.html

But then I read this:
http://forums.dfoggknives.com/index.php?showtopic=6303

Forged blades can have them forged in then cleaned up afterwards. (at about 07:45 of the following video)
[youtube]4Le4Rd7GB5A[/youtube]


As far as milling... well I don't know about that.
 
"The first rule is to make the depth of each groove less than half the thickness of the blade."

Very astute! ;^)
 
Yes, but I have heard from folks who didn't do this.
The same thing has happened to many on their first hollow grind.
 
I use the ancient and venerable Chinese tool - an angle grinder with a piece of stock clamped to the blade for a guide followed by dremel or flex shaft and files and stones and paper.

That is for swords and such. Smaller stuff, skip the angle grinder part. Also, once the groove is started, I have taken a chainsaw file, hardened the end (it is soft) and used it as a scraper with a pushing action. Get a nice round groove that way. It is good to refine, but would take some time to do the groove that way. Also, heat a chainsaw file to red, bend it, heat just past critical, quench in parks or water. Leave as quenched and go to work, a really good way to clean fullers if you don't want to use electric tools and don't have a mill.
kc
 
SBranson...

Those are good links, Thanks. Although the sword video gets pretty scary at the end when it talks about "edge packing".... lol
 
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