Now I remember why...

R

RobertJ

Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
125
So, im out in the shop today to finally get back into making some knives after a loooooong hiatus. After chasing the spiders out of the motor housing on my grinder i start her up and profile a simple 1/8" thick tanto out of A-2. I scribe all my lines and put the the good ol' flat platen on and away i go.
I now remember why i quit making knives...I cant flat grind for s**t! It got me so disgusted last time i even quit hollow grinding. So now here i am again. cant flat grind to save my life but i can hollow grind pretty darn good. However not all of my designs work with a hollow grind.
I need a jig or quit making designs that require a flat grind...:mad:
 
Relax. :) Scribe a line down the center of your edge. Then grind the edge at a 45 on both sides untill you have a nickel thick edge then grind pulling the blank across the platen looking down on the gap between the 45 edge and the belt. Press on the other side with a push stick as you slide the blank between the push stick and the belt. The lower you move the point of your stick presses on the blank the farther towards the spine you flat will move. Keep making passes and working the push stick until the flat goes to where you want on the spine and the 45 grind gap is gone. You have to work the handle out and or down a bit as the tip nears the belt to get the point. I never take the tip over about half way across the belt. As the flat starts to form you can feel it when you are flat when lay the blank gently against the belt, then move to your bevel and press as you smoothly pull the blade across. If it is all happening to fast uses a finer belt and or slow the grinder for a bit to get the hang of it. If I can you can. Now if I can figure out a hollow grind. LOL
 
cussing and bandaids is right on. once i get my slowdown pulley ill take another whack at it. Speed might be the issue. Till then...back to hollow grinding:barf:
Course theres a few makers that put hollow grinds on their tantos so...
Man if we could trade brains for a week ib2v4u we would both would be in good shape:D
 
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ib2v4u said:
Relax. :) Scribe a line down the center of your edge. Then grind the edge at a 45 on both sides untill you have a nickel thick edge then grind pulling the blank across the platen looking down on the gap between the 45 edge and the belt. Press on the other side with a push stick as you slide the blank between the push stick and the belt. The lower you move the point of your stick presses on the blank the farther towards the spine you flat will move. Keep making passes and working the push stick until the flat goes to where you want on the spine and the 45 grind gap is gone. You have to work the handle out and or down a bit as the tip nears the belt to get the point. I never take the tip over about half way across the belt. As the flat starts to form you can feel it when you are flat when lay the blank gently against the belt, then move to your bevel and press as you smoothly pull the blade across. If it is all happening to fast uses a finer belt and or slow the grinder for a bit to get the hang of it. If I can you can. Now if I can figure out a hollow grind. LOL
Click to expand...

I'm sure your busy, but I would love to see a few pics of this process! Maybe a little tutorial to go along with the explanation (which is very good by the way, I just need to see to understand everything you said)
 
RobertJ said:
cussing and bandaids is right on. once i get my slowdown pulley ill take another whack at it. Speed might be the issue. Till then...back to hollow grinding:barf:
Course theres a few makers that put hollow grinds on their tantos so...
Man if we could trade brains for a week ib2v4u we would both would be in good shape:D
Click to expand...

Robert ;i am new at this with only about a year into it, but i find it a lot easer to do a small flat blade and then go to a bigger one after i get the feel of it. as you know it takes a few small blades to get a big one
vern
 
I feel you! I took several long breaks from grinding when I was learning how to flat grind. Heck, I'm still learning how to flatgrind. The thing that helped me the most was to slow down and take my time. I grind on a Grizzly which runs a few FPM faster than the speed of light, and it took a lot of time to get it right. If I take my time and decrease the amount of pressure I'm pushing the knife into the platen with, I seem to get more consistent results. Not too light or the knife will bounce around, but don't lean into the grinder. Let the belts do the work. Pretty soon, you will be able to walk that 45 degree initial bevel up up and up to the spine. Just don't get in a hurry.

Another thing, as soon as I start to make stupid mistakes (well, maybe after the 3rd or 4th stupid mistake) or if I'm getting frustrated, I turn the grinder off and leave the shop. I may go back that day; I may wait until the next day to pick it back up. But I always find I grind better when I do pick it up again. That's the luxury of being a hobby/part time maker. I try to avoid deadlines, or if I have one, start plenty early so I'm not feeling pressed. I have a grinding mood, and I need to be in that mood if I'm going to be successful, at least for now.

--nathan
 
good points all. I think the most important one, the one i forgot is to have fun. looking through this thread i think im rushing it, my machine is to fast, im not letting the machine do the work and im dwelling on my failed attempts. once i get that slowdown pulley i take another swing at it.
thanks guys, glad im not alone in my frustrations with flat grinding.
 
When you are having a lot of trouble grinding put on a new belt and try again. An old dull belt can really make precision grinding difficult.
Alden
 
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