How to get the knife profiled in little indents?

B

blandies

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Aug 18, 2011
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159
This is hard to explain so I'm going to post a picture of what I'm asking...

2zq9dty.jpg


A hacksaw and grinding belt obviously can't hack or grind in those little indents outlined in red, so how would you remove that steel when removing stock for the knife shape? Also how would you grind those areas to make them smoothe and flat edged?
 
I profile those areas using the corner of my contact wheel. I dont do any finger cut outs like you show in your sketches tho. then onto the spindle sander to smooth everything out. if you dont have a spindle sander a small sanding drum in the drill press or even a hand drill would work. or even just wrap some sandpaper around a dowel
 
I use an angle grinder with either grinding wheels or flapped wheels for my profiling and it works well on little indents like you ask.a chain saw file is also good
 
I use a craftsman 2x42 so I can't use any contact wheels like some of the better grinders. I think an angle grinder may be my best bet if I can do it without messing it up, thanks everyone.
 
A half round file works great for that kind of thing.

I usually just use the edge of the contact wheel on my belt grinder though. Keep the knife moving anytime it is in contact with the belt to avoid divots. It helps to only apply pressure in one direction instead of moving back and forth. I move steadily off the edge of the contact wheel. Hang the belt off the wheel maybe 1/8" or 1/4" depending on the stiffness of the belt. You can do the same thing off a platen.
 
I'm surprised I'm the only one that does it on a cut-off wheel. Just a $200 14" high speed abrasive wheel. Yeah, you gotta be payin attention.

Then use the apprpriate size spindle and wheel on a 2x72.
 
I use a sanding drum on either a dremel or a drill press. 1" works great for most things.

- Chris
 
Yeah, how about a file...

I didn't 'believe in files' until I was shown what they could do by my friend who's a pipefitter. I mean daaaaaamn. You'd be SHOCKED what a pro can do with a pipe-liner file in about 30 seconds.

From my experience they were slow, imprecise, and crude tools.
Turns out exactly the opposite is true on all three counts.
Get yourself a set of NEW medium-size files: 1 medium half-round, one medium single-cut flat, and one skinny full-round for small choils, jimping, and other cleanup. Oh yeah, and buy or make HANDLES for them. Geez. Seriously, I just didn't know!

NEW files. They dull and whatnot like any cutting tool. Starting with a dull, loaded, rusty used file isn't much better than scratching at the steel with your fingernails for all the impatience and aggravation it will cause.

The other thing to do is to design to your tools. That saves a lot of work. Don't ask me how I learned that...

-Daizee
 
I've often wondered if Dremels are intended as left handed tools. I'm right handed and whenever I use a Dremel it throws particles in my face. If I was a south paw it would throw them away from my face.

I've heard it said (and I agree) that using a drill press for this type of grinding is ill advised. Yes, it will set the wheel spinning, and yes, it will work... but there are dangers, and you could be ruining your drill press. It is designed for straight down workloads, not side pressure workloads. Using a tool for something it wasn't designed to do has its risks. Granted, we all have to do it, because they don't make tooks specifically designed to do some of the things we do... but the less we swim against the current the better, I think.

As for using cutoff wheels, I'll just say I have no use for my angle grinder at all. I'll probably sell it at my next garage sale for $5. Sure, it's powerful, and yes I have several wheels (mostly cutoff wheels), but it just never rises to the top of my list of right tools for the job.

- Greg
 
I rough it out with the belt sander with the belt hanging over the edge of the platen. Then finish it with files or a Dremel. I tend to use files more than the Dremel type unit because I get better control and smoother looking curves with the files.

Ric
 
tryppyr, I too wondered that. I had a miniscule piece of 5160 removed from my eyeball in a doctors office after suffering for about a week. Small dremel wheel doing exactly this task.. choil cutting. Bottom line, wear your glasses everyone! lol. I am rather glad I learned without losing the eye. They definitely like to throw it in your face!
 
My first knife I worked on with a dremel. Almost never since.
The control is terrible, even with the tool clamped in a vice and moving the work.
It's not the right tool for the job and everything heats up so fast.
Yeah, they throw debris something fierce.

-Daizee
 
Blandies

I can get some curves with the bottom wheel of my "Mighty" Sears 2X42, but not many. Curves that have to be done by hand are done with a half-round file. Mine are rather coarse and there is quite a bit of edge cleaning that has to be done, by hand, with sandpaper.

I think about these curves as I'm drawing the design. I try not to have anything smaller than a 1" diameter inside curve. Why 1"? Because that is the size of sanding drum I have, duuuhhh. The little sandpaper sleeves that fit over the rubber part don't last very long but it works pretty good for cleaning up the rough filed edges on those inside curves. And 1" makes a very nice finger notch.

By the way, I'd REALLY like to see that bottom design when you get it done. I've never seen a design like that before, ever. ;-)

- Paul Meske
 
Horizontal edge grinder. I don't use it a lot, but it's worth it's weight in gold when it comes to small curves and such. Before that I have several small wheels for the Coote grinder. The hardest curve for me is on liner locks, the half moon cut out on the blade that rest against the stop pin when closed. Most times I use a dremel and a chainsaw stone to work it out. One of these days I'm going to make a small wheel attachment for the edge grinder and use it. Other than that I don't put a choil in a blade, it's something to hang up in what your cutting.
 
Have to +1 the files. Every knife I make gets filed somewhere during profiling... And if you keep it well chalked it will leave a smooth enough finish to easily be cleaned up with sandpaper!
 
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