Sanding My Bevels off

T

TheOTBalisong

Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Messages
288
Alright guys, so, what I was planning for my first knife is a Scandinavian grind.

Well, let's just say that didn't work out so well. :rolleyes:
For some reason, it seemed as if my bevel wasn't very well pronounced, and instead of there being a clear bevel, there was just a Convex-ed bevel-ish object.

Anyway it was curved down instead of being flat.
I'm actually perfectly fine with a full convex, which I continued by filing down the whole length of the blade to make it thinner, so in the end I just went with it.

I'm only working with hand tools (Files, papers, hacksaw, etc).
Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong, and give me some advice on getting the bevel to actually become a V-grind.

Thanks in advanced.
 
Watch the nick wheeler hand sanding videos. They are magic. He is amazing. Read the entire "stuck in the metal with you" thread. Then do it again. Your entire process will improve with enough application from that WIP. .
 
It sounds like the problem you are having is that you are not filing straight along a plane, but instead moving your file in an arc. The result is that your bevel is not flat, but will have a hump to it. The result may, or may not, be a true convex grind.

You have 2 options at this point, depending on the thickness of your stock, how much material you have left to remove, and what you want to do.

Option 1 is to basically go with what you have, and hand sand the blade to finish it out.

Option 2 is to draw file or push file the convex "hump" off the bevel, giving you a flat grind. A "scandi" grind is basically a low flat grind going to a "zero bevel" which means that you do not have a secondary bevel (the cutting edge). There are some decent videos on youtube that demonstrate how to draw (or push, depending on the direction) file.

If you plan to do more knives in the future, and want to do scandi grinds, then you would likely benefit from building a filing jig that keeps your file in the same plane as you remove material. These can be built to be adjustable for your bevel angle.
 
Thanks for the tips guys, and Mr. NStricker, I looked the "bevel" over on my knife and seems that it is a nice, long, shallow, convex.

But that wasn't what I wanted to achieve from the start, so I'm going to have to look into filing jigs and such.

Thanks again.
 
A lot of us sometimes get to a point where we aren't where we wanted to be when we started. A lot of times the knife is a lot smaller. . . :)
 
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