I am having a ton of trouble with stock removal on a design I am working on. I have no idea what type of steel I am working with and this is part of the problem. Is there a method to identify what type of steel this is? It is 3/16" thick and 1 3/16" wide by about 30" long. I got two pieces from a relative and he has no idea where they came from. I thought I might use my roto drill but in order to do so, they recommend an attachment called a "zip mate" for cutting metals. They do offer a diamond wheel for cutting along with other metal cutting wheels. My design has circles and curves and this tool attachment seems like it would do the trick on the type of removal I want. My question is, do any of you have experience with the roto drill and the zip mate attachment? I am not looking for a shortcut method here. I am willing to put the time to turn out a nice, usable knife for my personal use. What I have read about stock removal basically says to remove the excess material then fine tune with files, etc. I am trying to use files and hand power tools that I have here in the shop. What hand or power tools do you use to remove stock? Thanks for any and all suggestions.
rhettfcr
rhettfcr