My last hand filed knife : Turning into WIP( pic heavy)

duffy99 said:
I think I understand the principle here , I'm only using hand files on this so the recurve should be less likely to be rounded ( in theory in my head) my only problem is my file guide that I made sucks balls and is thin and bent up . I doled out $50 for a nice one from jantz supply and it's sitting in a box with the rest of an order at the US border right now waiting for the postal strike to end. I want to get going on this knife but don't want to shoot myself in the foot at the start. I rounded the bottom of the handle a bit on that mini drop point this afternoon , it looks smoother now then that pic from earlier today.
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If I may tell a secret, my file guide is home-made and to date I haven't even bothered to harden it. They do need to be fairly thick for rigidity though.
The hand-lapping method can seem like a pain because you will have to move the paper and get fresh abrasive fairly often, especially at the beginning, but as the plunge begins to match the radius of the plate the abrasive will last longer. I usually start with 120 or 150 grit but if the plunges are really ugly or have to move back I use 80 grit and put a layer of tape over most of the blade as well to protect it from stray grit as it rubs over the masked sandpaper. Light pressure works better when using the coarse grits, otherwise you just rip the abrasive clean off the paper.
The real trick with this and all hand finishing is to pretend you are trying to use as much sandpaper as you can. Really. Not trying to throw away half-used sheets, but to use reasonably fresh abrasive with every pass. When it feels used up, it is, even if you've only made a few passes. Fewer things in knifemaking will waste more time, in the long run, than trying to get extra mileage out of used up abrasive. I'd be a few years younger if I had all that time back.
 
Made some progress today , moved some steel. My14" files got a workout, I'm still debating a false edge on top.





 
Put the false edge on top , the flats are smoother and straighter then the marker shows. Did some more work on the bevels so now I got a few spots to touch up and then do the handle holes . After that the 2nd most dreaded part ... hand sanding it all.

 
Looks good! The sanding sucks, no way around it unless you just have a fondness for mind-numbing boredom. Try doing several at once. Just remember, more sandpaper = less time and less tennis elbow.
 
Thanks for the support!

I'm learning about sandpaper and treating it like it's free and started buying the "good stuff". I found sheets and strips from KMS tools up here called SIA FAST from Switzerland with thick backing which is 20x better then AO and a lot better then the 3m wet/dry they sell at the auto/ big box stores . I can't wait to use my 2x42 and I got a $130 order of "good stuff" belts from trugrit I'm waiting on which should get me started with the grinder. Still won't be able to avoid all of the hand finish though. If anyone knows of better sandpaper sheets and strips I'm all ears for good abrasives .
 
Quick update , just gotta touch up the plunge cuts and sand . Sorry for the pics quality.








 
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Did some sanding 60 then 80 to smooth everything out . The ricasso still needs some serious work and the tip, I ended up blending everything . Tomorrow 120/220/320/400 well maybe not that much I'll probably work on the ricasso and fix the tip then get back to sanding.







Thanks for looking.
 
Gettin' there! Just an FYI, I rarely hand sand with grits coarser than 120, even if I'm removing file marks or other deep scratches (the plunge lapping method I showed you is an exception to this). Those 60 grit scratches can take just as long to sand out as the file marks you were trying to get rid of with it.
It feels awkward but if you can change the direction of your sanding with every grit it is much easier to see when all the scratches from the previous grit are gone. I go in-line with one grit, slightly diagonal with the next, then in-line again with the next, etc.
 
Justin King said:
Gettin' there! Just an FYI, I rarely hand sand with grits coarser than 120, even if I'm removing file marks or other deep scratches (the plunge lapping method I showed you is an exception to this). Those 60 grit scratches can take just as long to sand out as the file marks you were trying to get rid of with it.
It feels awkward but if you can change the direction of your sanding with every grit it is much easier to see when all the scratches from the previous grit are gone. I go in-line with one grit, slightly diagonal with the next, then in-line again with the next, etc.
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Ya I try to change direction each grit, I had some really deep scratches that why I opted to do 60/80 but in retrospect I killed the lines from bevel to flat to false edge and won't be doing that again. I bought this ceramic tile for $2

it's got a good rounded edge to try to emulate your technique , If it doesn't work I also bought this

and have a 12x12 inch piece of granite that I can round the edge on . Any easy way to put a certain roundness on the granite?
 
Good quality coarse sandpaper should work on the granite but will blunt quickly. If you have an angle grinder and a masonry wheel, that will rough it out much faster.
Don't forget the tape if you lap the plunges, you can cause serious changes to the edge and bevel geometry without it.
 
Justin King said:
Good quality coarse sandpaper should work on the granite but will blunt quickly. If you have an angle grinder and a masonry wheel, that will rough it out much faster.
Don't forget the tape if you lap the plunges, you can cause serious changes to the edge and bevel geometry without it.
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Thanks for the reminder I'm using frog tape to cover the sandpaper. I think I wait until I have it almost ready for heat treat before I post more pics, sanding updates isn't very interesting to watch. I'm using a thick piece of g-10 as my sanding stick , it's working pretty good so far. About to try your lapping trick , wish my new file guide had showed up this week I'll just have to watch my thin crap one carefully to try to keep it symmetrical.
 
I sanded down the edge on one side of the granite to a 45 degree ish angle ( hand sanded with a stone) , it makes a nice angle except it ground down my shitty home made file guide not the ricasso and I noticed it was sanding the blade near the ricasso too. Is the edge too wide or short, I think I'm doing something wrong but the file guide is pretty thin to begin with like 3/64 inch or 1.2mm thick per side. Suggestions are welcome
 
Probably the guide, it has to be pretty thick to get any of it riding on the edge of the granite behind the blade. The whole length of the guide should stay against the granite, if it isn't then it won't really work, it will just wash out your lines somewhere. The whole principle works best for a high grind, where the bevel is wide enough to stay nice and flat on top of the granite. With the narrower bevel you will have to concentrate more on keeping it down flat.
 
I'll give it another go today and if it's still not working I'll wait until my file guide I ordered show's up. My package is still half way across the country ( So much for express mail delivery , stupid postal strike delays it's 3 weeks late ) from Jantz with a precision hardened file guide and other goodies. So keep the blade flat in contact with the top of the granite and keep the full guide in contact with the side , are you pushing the edge forward or pulling it back towards you?
 
I usually pull it with the edge leading, this seems to help keep me from rocking it back onto the flat of the blade. I use the fingers of my off hand to put pressure directly down on top of the bevel to help keep it down flat.
 
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