Keeping grind lines crisp?

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
5,703
Is it possible to keep grind lines crisp when hand finishing? I mean how can you replicate the grinding of a 10" contact wheel and not dull the line between it and the flat part at the back of the blade?

Sorry if I am not making myself clear. :confused:

Pad
 
I've been out sanding hollow ground blades ground on a 14" wheel tonight. I sand the flats on a granite plate. To sand the hollow I use a piece of plastic cut from a 12" pipe. I just made a sanding block out of a smaller diameter pipe, using the smaller diameter lets me see what I'm doing a little better. I don't know that I'll get it done tomorrow, but I"ll try to get pictures up friday to make sense of this.
 
I use wood and keep the sandpaper tight to the block. The pine I use eventually conforms to the hollow pretty well.
Ken
 
OK, It's time to share one of the great secrets. For years, I agonized over how I could duplicate the radius of the contact wheel for hand sanding and for lengthwise sanding instead of crosswise - the way the contact wheel grinds.

So here is my secret. :) Don't turn the grinder on. That's it! Either mount a fine belt or even tape strips of fine paper to the wheel - and move the blade back and forth across the stationary wheel. The fit is perfect. :thumbup: When the paper or belt wears, just rotate the wheel a couple inches.

Hope this helps someone.

Rob!

The grind lines will remain crisp.
 
Are you telling me I spent all this time setting up my KMG with variable speed for nottin'?:(

;)

Thanks for the great tip.

Pad
 
Padrig said:
Are you telling me I spent all this time setting up my KMG with variable speed for nottin'?:(

;)

Thanks for the great tip.

Pad
Click to expand...

No. Your KMG is sweet. The thing to note is that it really does do 'flat out fast' to ZERO! - and all those have some value. :)

Rob!
 
Sanding on the wheel is awkward for me. I know quite a few guys that do it, but it's hard for me to get a good solid pull with the pressure right where I want it doing it this way.

I made blocks out of steel that match the desired radius. Do 99.9% of your sanding on both the flats and the hollows with the steel blocks, and the last, final pulls with a cushioned block. The cushion is hard gasket material that gives just a tiny bit, but won't wash out your grind lines.

AKS ( http://www.alphaknifesupply.com ) sells blocks that are CNC machined by Todd Begg for just this purpose. :)
 
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Here's a pic grabbed from the Bybee's site showing the Begg sanding block. :)

TBSB10-s.jpg
 
Those begg sanding blocks would work great! i will eventually invest in every size :). for handrubbing hollows,as the guys have mentioned,you want something with the exact or slightly smaller radius then your wheel.i handrub out my bevels,then lightly re hit the flats to keep a crisp transition line.
 
Thanks Nick, I will get me a couple of those blocks. Any idea what the 2 holes are for?

Thanks again for the tips.

Pad
 
If you have the ability to make home made micarta, make a piece 6" wide by 3" tall by 3" deep. Take your grinding wheel or contact wheel and trace it on the tall dimension. Cut this out and apply your sand paper to it and hand polish away. You can also use wood with leather attached to the curvature for a softer base when sanding.
I usually use the micarta up to 600 grit and then switch to the leather wrapped wood block for the higher grits.
The only problem I encounter with this method is sanding from grind line to edge. It's very awkward and time consuming. It is much easier to move from ricasso to tip.
Hope this helps.
 
I grind hockey pucks to the diameter of my wheels and use them to sand the hollows. It is really easy to do and matches the diameter of the wheels perfectly. Just hold the hockey puck against the side of the wheel and draw a line on the puck matching the diameter of the wheel and cut off the excess with your band saw then sand to get the exact diameter. They last forever and are really cheap to get.

Marcel
 
Thanks Marcel. Being form Quebec I should have thought of that. Forgetting about hockey here, they might just revoke my passport. ;-)

Pad
 
NickWheeler said:
I made blocks out of steel that match the desired radius.
Click to expand...


Wheeler, you can find even the simplest means of spending too much money on something, I swear...



How about tracing the wheel onto a hockey puck, for crying out loud? Or if you've got to make it posh, use depleted uranium or a moonrock? WTF!?!???!
:D:D:D:D



(just saw Marcel beat me to it - rats!)
 
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