I'm Throwing Away My Jigs

[Fred.Rowe]

Knives have their roots in the distant past, early humans had them; made from flint, obsidian or chalcedony. When we formed into tribes, the tribe had a tool maker, he made arrowheads, scrapers and knife blades. Because of his skills, he was held in high esteem. It was the norm that the other members of the tribe would bring him food; they would hunt for him. His skill was valued.

I'm an arrowhead hunter and when hunting the fields along Flint Ridge for arrowheads; finding one, like my dad before me; I'd touch the arrowhead to my forehead, wiping the sweat onto the flint, I'd close my eyes and try to imagine the toolmaker. Holding my find in my hand, I would critique his skill, how well was it made. Was he passion-it about his work? Did he cloak his skill in mystery keeping the tribe in awe of his ability? If he was using a jig, did he tell his tribe?
There is some similarity in modern knifemakers, we like to keep our tribe in awe of our skills, a little mystery a dash of smoke and buffalo hide.

I like the direction this thread has taken. We've become more insightful.

Fred

 

[P. McKinley]

Well, I guess I'll be getting SEVERAL of your jigs

Would there be any advantage to freehanding it most of the way, and then using the jig to do a final cleanup? I'm having a little trouble visualizing how many extra steps in the process fitting the jig or jigs might add.

Falcon - This, for me is the single most frustrating aspect of using a jig, at least of the design I have. Checking to see that the bevels are equal..... is a pain. Clamp on, fine tune grinding angle, grind a bit, un-clamp, check bevel line, clamp on, fine tune grinding angle, grind a bit, un-clamp - repeat, repeat, repeat. It gets old pretty quick when doing batches. I've thought of jig modifications/designs to minimize this, but I'm no machinist.

That, and the extraordinary nuisance of grinding grit between jig and work rest. Just one little shard during a pass can toss the jig way of line and gouge the crap out of the blade. That's always a good time.

However, I can see Fred's rig being considerably less cumbersome both respects.

Now, should there be any talented machinists out there ........

-Peter

 

[crocogator106]

When I first posted this thread I had no idea that it would spark such diverse and strong reactions. I have to admit that I like reading ALL comments and views on this any any subject or thread that I read. As a beginner it gives me new and different views to consider and try until I find what works best for me. And as stated in this thread some things (such as various jigs) work for some and not others. I guess I just want to be the best knifemaker I can be which includes learning as many aspects of knifebuilding as I can to the best of my ability. I enjoy (to a point) making mistakes...I just enjoy the learning process. This process includes trying to grind a knife with and without the assistance of "tools of the trade" such as grinding jigs. I never really thought about it but you guys are also right in that other tools we use are essentially "jigs". Fred I agree with you, I like the direction this thread has taken...through it I explored more techniques in making knives. I started out on another "knife forum" where no one ever replied to questions asked from newbies like me and there was no discussion on other topics which I wished to learn about;which led me to this forum. And boy have I been satisfied since being here. Thanks again EVERYONE who posted here and expressed their opinions and various knife making advice. I just hope you guys are not "Casting pearls to swine" in my case anyway.

 

[crimsonfalcon07]

The makers community here has been one of the main reasons I will be continuing to renew my membership to BF. They've universally been incredibly helpful. I'm glad you posted this topic, because it's gotten me thinking about ways I can make things easier.

Ultimately, the purpose of jigs seems to be to make things easier to do well. Of course, if a jig doesn't make things easier, or makes it harder in other ways, that makes it less good.

I'd like to get a good center-scribe. That's one that I think I really need (and what is that, if not a jig). Fred's jig is another that I think I might find useful. I'd certainly be curious to see a thread in which people describe their favorite jigs, and what makes them good (and what makes them annoying).