- Joined
- Apr 7, 2013
- Messages
- 600
Today was my day off and I was very excited to get back into my workshop for some knife work. I've recently set up a nice shop in my garage and had three blades profiled and ready to have their bevels ground in. The first knife I've made using my new 2x72 grinder is pretty sloppy, but I was ready to tackle the next three so I could send a few out for HT at one time. Well, to say I was quickly humbled would be an understatement.
After watching the Tim Hancock demo that was hosted by Travis Wuertz, I decided to try that technique. I set up my esteem grinder to how I thought Tim's TW-90 was set up and let her rip, only to over grind the first bevel of the knife into essentially a chisel grind with the first pass Part of the problem I had was the amount of grit the belt/contact wheel was throwing up at me while using this technique, which was very distracting.
Next up I said no thanks to that technique and went back to the flat platen method I used on the first knife. I had a fresh 36 grit Norton Blaze belt set up and everything was squared. I bolted on my Bruce Bump file guide and began working on the bevels. Again I ground them too thin, but I was able to save it by grinding down the edge a bit and thickening her up for heat treat. Aside from the even plunge lines, I was unable to get a nice crisp grind to save my life, instead it was wavy and all over the place.
Last up was the big knife, which has a six to seven inch blade. Amazingly I was a able to learn something from the first two knives and get a much more even grind. I was going for a saber grind, but again I could not manage a straight line, nor a crisp flat. I was able to get the plunge line better than the second knife by moving the tracking of the belt just over the edge depending on what side I was grinding and that worked well.
Here's what I was able to produce...
Last but not least, I really learned respect for the blade smith's out there who are turning out these complex compound grinds, or hell even a nice square and straight saber grind. To be able to grind in a straight line by hand absolutely boggles my mind at this point. I'm also amazed at the ability that many of you have to create such a symmetric grind without the aid of jigs/cnc machines. Kudos to those new makers who are already out of the gates way ahead of me. This is my first time really working with my hands, as I have no real "crafting" experience so I imagine my learning curve will be much steeper.
Thanks for all of the great knowledge found on this forum, I will continue to practice, and practice and practice some more.
Cheers,
Pete
After watching the Tim Hancock demo that was hosted by Travis Wuertz, I decided to try that technique. I set up my esteem grinder to how I thought Tim's TW-90 was set up and let her rip, only to over grind the first bevel of the knife into essentially a chisel grind with the first pass Part of the problem I had was the amount of grit the belt/contact wheel was throwing up at me while using this technique, which was very distracting.
Next up I said no thanks to that technique and went back to the flat platen method I used on the first knife. I had a fresh 36 grit Norton Blaze belt set up and everything was squared. I bolted on my Bruce Bump file guide and began working on the bevels. Again I ground them too thin, but I was able to save it by grinding down the edge a bit and thickening her up for heat treat. Aside from the even plunge lines, I was unable to get a nice crisp grind to save my life, instead it was wavy and all over the place.
Last up was the big knife, which has a six to seven inch blade. Amazingly I was a able to learn something from the first two knives and get a much more even grind. I was going for a saber grind, but again I could not manage a straight line, nor a crisp flat. I was able to get the plunge line better than the second knife by moving the tracking of the belt just over the edge depending on what side I was grinding and that worked well.
Here's what I was able to produce...
Last but not least, I really learned respect for the blade smith's out there who are turning out these complex compound grinds, or hell even a nice square and straight saber grind. To be able to grind in a straight line by hand absolutely boggles my mind at this point. I'm also amazed at the ability that many of you have to create such a symmetric grind without the aid of jigs/cnc machines. Kudos to those new makers who are already out of the gates way ahead of me. This is my first time really working with my hands, as I have no real "crafting" experience so I imagine my learning curve will be much steeper.
Thanks for all of the great knowledge found on this forum, I will continue to practice, and practice and practice some more.
Cheers,
Pete
I wouldn't want it to go to waste. :thumbup:
