last knife befor the bear

bikermikearchery

bikermikearchery

Joined
Jan 18, 2007
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This is the last knife I'll make before I get my grizzly grinder. I'm wondering how many pieces of steel I'll ruin before I get the hang of a belt grinder.
This is 1/8" O-1 steel with oiled walnut scales. All work was done with hand tools, hacksaw and files, hand sanded to 1500 grit. my pics leave a bit to be desired. Let me know what you think of this knife.
 
VERY nice, especially for a power-tool-free build.

One question, though... how many fingers are supposed to fit in front of/behind the "subhilt"/protrusion?
 
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Size may be deciptive. I have thick hands but tend to like thin grips. Come from training over seas with tools/blades made for littel people.
 
haha i went through a 3 ft section of mild steal when i got my kmg getting all the little quircks figured out, congrads and good luck
 
is it a full or hidden tang? i like the wood sub hilt look allot, very old world looking to me, and thats what i like :)
-Lou
 
I like it! Looks like it would make a good hunting/woods knife.

Congrats on receiving your grinder soon! As mentioned by Docdredd, practice a bit on some mild steel and get a feel for the ol' girl, it helps some. I've had my Bader III for about 3 years, and every knife I have ground on it has been a learning experience and a very enjoyable one. Best of luck to you! -Matt-
 
Nice knife, really like the piwork. One negative comment though on the overall profile.... Sorry just being honest..
The protrusion you have at the bottom of the ricasso, (I guess to keep fingers clear of the blade) will drastically limit the use of a major part of the back portion of the blade. If you are cutting, or rather slicing, the back part of the blade will have a hard time making contact due to the part sticking out so far if you get what I mean...
Nice work though and I hope you like your Grizz. It's a lot of machine for the money!:thumbup:
Matt Doyle
 
Looks like a lot of work went into that knife. Great job I like it. One day you will look back on knives like that and remember doing it the old way. Have a good one in the shop. ---------:thumbup:
 
You're gonna like the Grizzly.

Get some 50 grit Norton Blaze belts and some 120 grit Trizact "Gator" belts from trugrit.com. Your grinder is only as good as your belts. Have fun! :D
 
I just got the grizzly grinder a couple of weeks ago and love it. Before then I was doing everything by hand. Practice with some 150-220 belts before dropping down to the 60. I messed up quite a few pieces of metal when I first used it. I was able to salvage them, but they did not turn out the way I wanted!!
 
If you are having tracking trouble with the Grizzly, do a search on here and on Google for some great tips. I took some electrical tape and ran a strip on the center of the top pulley, and that helped a little bit.

DEFINATELY get some good belts. 3M, Norton, Klingspor, etc. DO NOT use the cheapies from Grizzly, they will irritate you to no end. I never even realized what torture I was subjecting myself to until I ordered some real belts from Pop's Knife Supply. Also, take a vac filter or other foam filter and tape it over the vents on the right hand side of the motor. It will keep metal flakes and dust out of the motor and extend life. If you lean too hard on the belts, you will increase your power draw and maybe throw a breaker. Let the belts do the work, and use NEW belts for any edge beveling.

Have fun!

Oh, and you will LOVE your grinder for handle work! Use that nice big area of slack belt below the platen.

--nathan
 
oh yeah forgot to tell you.....
those belts eat fingers faster than they do metal. be carefulllllllllllll my knuckle got kissed by a 60 grit and thats a whole new kinda hurt let me tell you.
 
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I had to choose between a new camera, and the belt grinder. So will have to put up with these unsatisfactory pictures for a while.
I usually finish one knife a week with hand tools. Will be interesting to see if I become more productive, or just ruin more steel.
 
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