I'm the new guy!!! Advice on edge bevels?

[leachknives]

Ok guys, I'm not completely new to making knives but am DEFINATELY still an amateur. To date, I've only made about half a dozen that still survive, four of which have been in the last year, and three of the four have been in the last several weeks. Those last 3 were railroad spike knives. The problem that I am having is getting getting a nice, clean looking edge bevel ground in, or forged in if I could get the hang of it. Right now my belt grinder is a handheld Craftsman belt sander that I clamp upside down into my bench vice. It seems to work, but, would you guys recommend a better belt grinder like a 2x72, 1x42, etc. I'm gonna try to post some pics of my shop and the rr spike knives. Lets see if it works.

Ok, I'm goona need some help on posting pics as well.


Thanks all,
Dave

 

[TwinStick]

If you can afford a good 2x72, go for it. They can get pretty pricey but you get what you pay for. If you do get a good one, you can even profile the blades with it. I am not so good with computers either. I post on photobucket & just copy & paste on here, you just cant have over a certain amount of pics or they start showing up blank.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Knife-Belt-Sander-Buffer/G1015

 

[leachknives]

thanks Twinstick. Profiling the blade is what i meant. Its late for me and i was having a serious brain fart. From what I have found so far, 2x72 grinders go from several hundred dollars to a couple thousand. I just don't have that kind of cheese to lay down right now (not to mention my wife would use one of the knives I made to show me what my own heart looks like).

 

[TwinStick]

I have a cheap ass Harbor Freight 1x30 belt sander. About $30 with sale & 20% off coupon. It is not fast but it works AWESOME, especially with the new Home Depot Diablo belts they just started selling. I just picked up 4 pkgs, 3 in a pack, 50-80-120 grit i think. I don't think it would actually profile a blade though. But it will sharpen one so it can shave paper & hair. I just got done tonight cleaning up an AWESOME cleaver that someone gave me. It will shave paper like nothing now. I did some research & found it was made by a local company in business from 1890-1940.