Looking For Flat Grinding Tips

T

Trek Vandecar

Joined
Jan 31, 2020
Messages
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I am currently working on some kitchen knives and have been considering trying to take the grind all the way to the spine and beyond. Currently I grind a 1" bevel to about .001 then sharpen. The height of the blade at the heal is about 2". This leaves it thick at the spine. While good for food release, it leaves me wondering if I can make it cut better!

I work with a jig and rely on my my scribed bevel lines to keep things flat and lined up. Any tips for keeping things flat/accurate once your grinding all the way to, or past the spine of the knife?

This is my first time posting on here, I have found myself being directed to and using the information on this forum quite often and figured it was time to join! Thanks to all the members for the information you have already shared and I hope to continue learning more and more as things progress!
 
If you find you want to grind past the spine I would opt for thinner stock and to grind up to the spine (ffg). I personally dont like to grind past it but I'm not a kitchen knife guy. If you are using a jig you will need to make your angle a little shallower to grind higher but other than that the process won't change much it will just take a little longer. Hooe this helps a bit. Best of luck. Maybe throw in some pics of your knives. Everyone loves to see pictures and it can help people understand what your asking a bit easier.
 
Thanks for the advice!

I think it would be easier for me to describe what I'm thinking with pictures as well.

Any recommendations for image hosting sites? It's been awhile since I've used a proper forum!
 
I am trying to learn how to full flat grind myself. What helped me the most so far, other than actually practicing, was watching the video by Butch Harner. I watched the video several times and then just tried to do the same thing. I was quite surprised that my first attempt produced a really nice looking blade, where my previous attempt using a jig failed completely.

 
Something I find that really helps on chef knives is using scotch brite belts at the end to blend and satin finish, if your planning on leaving grinding marks going from edge to spine. Otherwise prepare yourself for a lot of hand sanding to blend between the area around the heel out to the tip. Also you almost have to change angle as your grinding unless your putting a plunge grind into the knife, I prefer doing plungeless kitchen knives.
 
Having recently gone through this (and still learning) i will try chiming in. People talk about “feeling the bevel” or “ landing a plane” ... good descriptions, but let me try describing in a slightly different way. First, you need GOOD bright light at the grinder. Once you have your initial small bevel ground, take the blade, approach the grinder belt with the blade held approximately with the existing bevel parallel to the belt, BUT angled ever so slightly so that the edge touches the belt first. Make contact between edge and belt, BUT USE NO PRESSURE. Then ever so slightly rotate so that the spine of the blade moves towards the belt. Looking closely, you will see a small gap open between the edge of the blade and the belt. Keep that gap small and start grinding with pressure, and you will see that gap disappear. You have just walked the grind slightly more towards the spine without thinning the edge. Keep doing that, walking the grind back towards the spine to the point that you want it.

you will get to the point (or at least i did) where you will “feel” when the existing bevel is flat against the belt - and things will go faster.

you then have the basic bevel you want, but still have a relatively thick edge. To take care of that, do the above to get the bevel flat against the belt, then rotate (or exert pressure) so that you are still basically flat against the belt, but grinding more towards the edge, and basically grinding very very little or none at all at the spine (walter sorrell recommends not quite grinding all the way to the spine to leave a little room for error here). Keep doing that, walking the edge thickness down until you get the thickness you want.

in an earlier post i described this as a “zen” moment for me. Hitting the point where you can just plain “feel” when you have the bevel flat against the belt was really cool.

in the video above this is more or less what he is doing (though he does not explain it) ... but if you look carefully you can see it. Hopefully this helps...
 
Thanks for all the tips!

I gave it a go and I definitely learned some things.

I used the jig and grind blade up. I used the center scribed lines to make sure things were lined up and tried to feel the flat as I ground my bevels past the spine. I did end up with plunge lines, but also the blade is much thinner and lighter than I expected. I'll get some pictures uploaded here at some point!

I have had some sketchy moments with those scotchbrite belts! They will send stuff flying if you don't give them the respect/attention they require! They do leave a nice finish tho. I'm still learning to use them safely and effectively.
 
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