Old school Kabar fuller?

[Jason Fry]

I'm making a damascus Kabar out of M1 Carbine parts in a can. I need to grind the fuller.

What size wheel should I grind with? I'll set up work rest and small wheel and grind it by hand.

I suppose there's probably no official size, just can't grind the middle too thin?

 

[bikermikearchery]

just by eye id say My Kabars have fullers that would equal about a 1.5 inch diameter. Held it against a 1 inch wheel and a 2 inch and it was in the middle.

 

[thebrain]

I believe the official spec sheet is available online for the KaBar.

 

[DeadPineKnives]

I think a 1.5" diameter wheel would be good! Could even get away with using an idler wheel, I've hollow ground some tangs that way.

 

[Barry Clodfelter]

I just made a couple Kabars and wondered the same thing. I used a 3/4" ball nose endmill and cut the center slot about .08 deep then moved up .375 from the center line and made a pass then moved down .375 from the center line and made a pass. Back off just slightly for both top and bottom passes and ends can be cleaned up with a rotary tool or Dremel.

 

[Jason Fry]

I just made a couple Kabars and wondered the same thing. I used a 3/4" ball nose endmill and cut the center slot about .08 deep then moved up .375 from the center line and made a pass then moved down .375 from the center line and made a pass. Back off just slightly for both top and bottom passes and ends can be cleaned up with a rotary tool or Dremel.

I have considered milling with a 3/16 or 1/4 ball end, then using that slot as a guide for the 2" wheel.

 

[Jason Fry]

I found a mild steel bar and ground about 8 fullers for practice. Set up the 2” wheel on the tool rest. Worked well enough.

Here they are to 400 off the machine.

Then I ground the main bevels and swedges. Got the bevels to 400. On the second swedge, the belt caught and broke. Idk if the belt edge or knife spine did the cutting, but I ended up with a 3/4 by 3/16 cut. Luckily it was along the side of my finger, so the true “depth” wasn’t enough to require stitches. Close call!