Ideas wanted!

Guy Thomas · Dec 2, 2002

I have a two wheel Pro-cut 2x72 grinder. I like tapered tangs on my knives and the grinder isn't a problem on knives that I forge because I start the taper while forging. I can then lay the taper flat on my platten to clean it up without the blade touching the belt.

My problem comes into being when I want to do a tapered tang on a stock removal knife. The only other time I've done this was on a Wilton square wheel grinder at a friends shop where I could just grind the tang while the blade hangs completely off of the platten. Since the platten on my grinder lies between the wheels and is in line with the belt I can't do that.

My first thought was to build a new platten for my machine with a shallow triangular shape, instead of being flat, so that I would have a portion of the platten to grind the tang taper on without the blade touching the belt. Seem like a good idea? Or will the new platten put too much tension and friction on the belt?

Laredo7mm · Dec 2, 2002

My Burr King model 760 also has the platten inbetween two of the wheels. What i do is start the taper on the contact wheel and get it close to what I want. Then I move to the flat platten to even everything up.

Basically I get enough taper on the tang that when I put it on the platten the blade does not touch the platten.

Hope this makes sense.

Guy Thomas · Dec 2, 2002

That makes perfect sense and is a route I didn't think about. Thanks Laredo, I will give that a try soon. I'm working on a largish hunter or smallish camp knife using heavy L6 stock and really need to reduce it's weight significantly. I suppose I should scribe some lines so that I don't overdo any areas while I'm grinding on the contact wheel. (For some reason I hate scribing lines!)

Mike Hull · Dec 2, 2002

Mark parallel lines around the tang, grind hollows in the tang till they almost touch the lines at the rear, then take the knife to a disc sander and taper.

That's how I do it anyway. I have found that the disc gets the tangs much flatter than the platen.

Guy Thomas · Dec 2, 2002

A large disc grinder would be a welcomed addition to my shop, very useful for a number of applications. I've noticed already that the platten on the grinder doesn't always make the best of flats!

Reg ELLERY · Dec 3, 2002

If you have not got a disc already but you have a large contact wheel on your grinder with one exposed side. You may be able to turn / or get turned up a disc to bolt on the side of the contact wheel. My grinder has that as a after sale option. I have not used it yet. It is a 1/4 or 5/16 thick plate held in place with 3 countersunk bolts.

As always safety first whatch out for bolt on you don't want it to come off at speed.

John Frankl · Dec 3, 2002

Mike,

Thanks for the tip. I got a disc sander a few months back and it is great for handle scales, etc. I have not tapered a tang on it YET. My question is what do you do to ensure the taper (as opposed to a uniform flattening of the material as on handle scales)? Does this occur as you grind your troughs into the tang?

Thanks,

John

Mike Hull · Dec 3, 2002

Originally posted by John Frankl
Mike,

Thanks for the tip. I got a disc sander a few months back and it is great for handle scales, etc. I have not tapered a tang on it YET. My question is what do you do to ensure the taper (as opposed to a uniform flattening of the material as on handle scales)? Does this occur as you grind your troughs into the tang?

Thanks,

John

When I grind the hollows, I have the knife angled out so the hollows are ground deeper at the rear of the handle.
I determine the taper, and length of same, by the angle that I hold the knife, when I am on the disc, or flat platen.
I usually use the flat platen first, and a course belt, after I grind the hollows, followed by the disc. But there is no reason the whole thing can't be done on the disc.
I hope that answers your question, as I'm not sure I completely understood it.