Question on hollow grinding.

tavman

tavman

Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Messages
24
Just starting out on knifemaking, and tryed to start my first blade tonight.

I realize this may be a personal preference type thing but:

When you start your hollow grinding do you normally start from the tip or the end closer to the handle?

If you start at the tip what is the easiest way to make sure the grind is even with the rest of the blade?

Sorry if this has been covered before, but i'm not having the best luck with the search function.
 
I haven't done much hollow grinding but I have watched Jim Siska do it on several occasions. He starts at the handle end and grinds edge up.
 
Make sure you start by putting a 45 degree bevel on both sides of the blade with a worn belt, taking it down to your desired final edge thickness before heat treat. This eliminates the 90 degree corner on the edge of your blade which will strip the abrasive right off a new belt and tend to catch the blade and pull it out of your grasp.

Start near the handle end, but not quite all the way back to where you want your grind to eventually end up. Put some good pressure against the wheel to establish your hollow. Once your hollow is established to the point where you can put the blade against the wheel and "drop" right into the hollow, you can take the grind back to where you want it and forward to the tip. Remember you don't have as much steel near the tip, so you have to lighten up the pressure there.

I can't imagine starting near the tip and working back. It would be very difficult to drop into the hollow.
 
Mike,There are specialty attachments for the grinder that do hollow grinding.They cost a good bit of money.Many older makers have one covered with dust somewhere in the shop.Do it by hand.
 
Just practice practice practice, you will get to a point where a jig will just get in your way and slow you down. I will grind somewhere in the middle to start, and then back into the choil, then run to the tip.
 
Mike, To learn to get the feel for hollow grinding use 1/4 inch plywood. Just profile a blade and than grind starting at the plunge. Learn to get the feel for where the shoulder is at all times as you are basically working in the blind on this.

Do a couple dozen of these to get the feel of your grinder, body position, sitting - standing etc. You will get a great deal of experience and incite in a short period of time.

Needles to say just take your time and use this approach as a confidence gaining learning experience.

The reason I use plywood to learn a new grind is the centerline is easy to see, and the pattern looks cool.

Also try all the above tips as you than will find what works best for you.
 
I want to thank you for the replies. I've got a blank worked out, and will be buying some wood to practice on before doing said blank.

Thanks again.

Bill
 
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