Just wandering a few things

J

Justin Howell

Joined
Feb 11, 2012
Messages
28
Well, my stuff finally got here Tuesday and I went straight to work that night after supper. Not knowing any better, I had bought a 4 inch cutting disk to get the shape cut out, figuring I could get it close and go. Well, I learned close means close cause sanding and filiing to make up the 1/8 th inch difference I cut from the line is taking a while, not to mention hard on belts. I got the spine contoured and sanded in after about 3 hours of work. I wouldn't and don't mind the time required if that was the way it had to be but this is soft 1080 steel and I have a pack of tools. Should be close to getting the bevel filed by now instead on just getting the spine right.:) Getting anxious to get the blade here to get the rest of it cut out.

What do you guys use to cut out the shape you traced on the metal, and what grit and type of belts do you use to get the metal to sanded to exact dimensions. I have a 6 by 48 and a 1 by 30 sander. Lokking to do contour and some rough blade sanding on the big one and more precious sanding on the smaller one. I just seem to be having a hard time getting the belt on the bigger sander to take enough material. It seems to have tore all the abrasive off. Is this just a cheap belt or should I expect this? BTW, it is an 80 grit? I gotta a couple days to get the blade here so looking to learn a little from your expierence.:) Thanks and God Bless
 
More than likely your useing a cheap AO belt which does not like to remove blade steel very well.Plus the slow speed of a 6 X48 grinder.JUst don't be heavy handed and take your time and work to shape.
I use a band saw to cut my blanks close and then grind to shape on a 2X72.
Stan
 
I use whatever I have that will remove steel. I drill a series of holes, I use an angle grinder with the thin cutting discs, high tension hacksaw, hard wheel grinder, belt grinder, files, drum sander, and my super heat vision. It seems like a portable band saw would be the way to go, but I suspect they have their limitations too. I don't have one. That's the biggest limitation.

Three hours seems like a long time. Was it maybe a four-foot curvy sword or something?

I'm confused by one term you used. What is this "exact dimensions" thing? Are you being really fussy? Huh,... I mean really exact in your profiling? I don't know how to do that because when I trace the profile from the template, in theory, I should just have to grind until the line is gone. But since I cleverly use a felt tip pen (rather than a scribe or something more permanent) to do this the outline is mostly gone by the time I get close to the line. I think I switch to dynamic design modification mode and go with what seems right. I don't think I could make two identical knives if my life depended on it.

- Paul Meske
 
I use 36 grit belts on my 1X30 to profile blades until I am real close. Then I switch to 80 or 120 grit then to a finer grit to get where I want on the blade. You will need to remove a little more steel when you finish the knife.
 
It was 3 hours because I had to basically filed it all. I used a grinder and a cutting wheel to get it about 1/8 from the line but in the bottom of the handle I went back after posting and used a hack saw to help out. I don't know why I never thought of that. And I was afraid to get it any closer because I was having a hard time seeing the felt tip profile due to the sparks. I do have a band saw blade coming and some quality belts too. Just beginning here so I am learning as I go. I also have a one tract mind at times so the obvious sometimes slips my mind.:) I am going back out after swamp people to get it profiled using the junkie belts. Shouldn't take long. Would a cutting torch get the metal to hot?
 
try to post an image of the profile
knife004.jpg
 
Justin,

I was looking at the profile of the knife you cut out and it is actually very similar to the first knife I made. I used hand tools and a drill press for my first several knives. My drill press was from Sears, they type that you clamp your hand held drill in.

I cut my profiles out with a hacksaw. I plan my cuts. First I hack out the crude shape with all straight cuts, not worrying about getting really close to the profile. Then I go back and small wedges closer to the actual profile. Next I use a combination of the grinder and files. You can get it all done with files if you don't have a grinder. Be patient.

To mark the profile, I like to use layout dye I think the brand I have is Dykem. I can see the line better when the steel gets hot while grinding it.

Ric
 
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