Sanding blades question

B

Bill Bryant

Joined
Mar 19, 1999
Messages
54
I've been making handmade knives off & on for about 15 years. Pretty much fixed blade, full tang, hunting & utility style knives. After I profile my blade, drill pin holes, and hollow grind, I'm at the part I really dislike. I lay a sheet of wet/dry sandpaper on a steel plate, squirt some Cool Tool II on the sandpaper and sand...sand...sand. I dislike this part of the process and wind up procrastinating completing blades that can then be heat treated and completed with bolsters & handles. The only part I really want sanded is the part of the blade above my grind line and in front of where the bolster will be.
I'm currently working on blanks made of S30V. OMG this stuff's hard to sand. I start with 80 grit, then 150. If I can get past the 150, then 220, then 400. It takes forever to sand away the "micro dimples" in the steel. I spend hours at mind numbing, tedious, sanding, just on the 80 grit.
I don't remember D2 & A2 taking this much time to sand.
Is there another way to finish the blade surfaces? I'm looking for ideas on what others do at this point to finish the flat non-handle part of their blades. Or, do I just need to go back to using D2?

Thanks,
Bill
 
I sometimes use a welder magnetic holder to take the flat to a grinder platen. This won't work for non-magnetic steels, but that could be overcome by using an adhesive instead. Either way, the important part is to get it flat in the first place (past scale, surface imperfections from the rolling process) at the lower grit before moving on. Harder steels are going to take longer than softer steels for a given approach no matter what though. The biggest thing seems to be to avoid any rolling you'll then have to sand back down past to avoid making more work. You might reconsider your abrasive selection.

If you're just doing stock removal and no forging, another approach could be to buy your stock flat ground to begin with. If it's worth the time saved and doesn't blow your margin it could be worth your money.

Hope I added anything helpful.
 
I just go to the grinder and stick the blade on a hand held grinding magnet. I place a 60 grit belt on the flat platen and set the blade vertically on the belt. Flip the blade on the magnet and do the other side. A minute later I am changing the belt to 120 grit and then to 400 grit. Once I have established the flat tang, ricasso, and upper blade areas, I then grind the bevels even and clean. From there you can call it quits or go to hand sanding for the final finish.
On stainless blades, especially CPM-S35VN, where I have already done the above completely before HT, I usually start with a fresh 120 grit blue zirc belt after HT.

Having VS on the grinder is a real plus in post HT flattening and clean up. Fresh belts are a necessity.
 
Thanks guys!
My grinder is a home-built, and the platen is only about 6" tall. I was able to remove the work shelf from in front of the platen and pinch the blade against a 220 Trizact belt. I don't know why I didn't think of that. The hand sanding will go much quicker now that I'm past the "micro dimples" and sanding smooth steel.
It's been a while since I bought this steel, but I do recall buying rolled vs. pre-ground to save money.
Thanks again,
Bill
 
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