Some criticism

mediamst

mediamst

Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
39
Hoping to get some criticism and suggestions on how to improve my skills. Below are my first works in progress. My convex grinds are aweful. I seem to round out the spine and my full flat grinds are getting better but still not even. My ricassos are also a mess :) LoL


http://www.flickr.com/photos/notinabox/sets/72157631534052418/

Couldnt post the photos in this post. not sure why. I copied the share link and pasted it into the insert image window....


Anything advice? I am lost ;)
 
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How many knives have you ground? If you haven't ground a lot then I think these looks pretty good. Learning to grind is a skill and takes lots of pratice. Just keep at it and it'll get better.
Kelley
 
One thing I could say is that the tang/ricasso area you want to grind lengthwise against the platen, otherwise you'll never get it flat (at least that's how Harvey Dean does it). It also lets you to a degree "reset" your spine of the blade grind on a flat grind, if you ran over the top. But it would thin it out too, so keep that in mind. A great video is Harvey Dean's Flat Grinding DVD, he trues up a forged blade his son made, then flat grinds it and puts a false edge (swedge) on the blade as well. Very nitty gritty, but good video for flat grinding.
 
Until you get the hang of it you can true up blade the old fasion way with a file. This allow you to go slow and make really nice clean lines. I used this method when getting started 20+ years ago and know some very respected makers how did also. Kelley
 
These are the first three knives I have ground. I think it is getting better each time I do it.

HardedgeKnives said:
How many knives have you ground? If you haven't ground a lot then I think these looks pretty good. Learning to grind is a skill and takes lots of pratice. Just keep at it and it'll get better.
Kelley
Click to expand...
 
I never thought of truing up the blades using a file. That is a great idea.
Any advice on what types, sizes etc I should invest in? I assume I would have a lot of hand sanding to do after the file work fixes all my innefective grinding techniques?

HardedgeKnives said:
Until you get the hang of it you can true up blade the old fasion way with a file. This allow you to go slow and make really nice clean lines. I used this method when getting started 20+ years ago and know some very respected makers how did also. Kelley
Click to expand...
 
I'd recommend a 8 to 10 inch flat file that is double cut with medium to coarse cutt for truing. Then use a long angle single cut fine lathe file to smooth the steel out. There is going to be a lot of hand sanding but you should wait on that until after the heat treat. I assume you are using carbon steel of some kind which will scale and need to re-surfaced afterwards so just get the lines right and everyting all trued and reasonably sooth before HT but I wouldn't spend any time hand sanding at this stage.
 
Get a Bubble Jig. It will save you a fortune in steel and belts plus a years worth of frustration. Best grinding teacher there is. I make them, but ask people who use them and they will agree.

Just a heads up, Fred
 
Some file guides would help with plunges. Or you could use some masking tape as the cheap way, and it works pretty well. Bubble jig sounds like a good idea, but I don't own one. The knives look pretty good but practice will help a lot! :)
 
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