Tapering A Blade???

Michael J. Spangler

Michael J. Spangler

Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
2,181
My boss is having me order 10 laser cut ATS-34 chef knives blanks from admiral steel. he wants me to grind them, so he can have some for restaurant use and for home use. i'm planning on using a 14" wheel with 5/32"stock to do a full grind on the the blades, i want to know how to put a taper in the blade.
when i normally grind blades they're not full grinds so this is all new to me
is there any trick to it? should i scribe the spine of the blade to keep track of my progress? if not should i just take it slow and gradually work in the taper by feathering the blade back into the wheel to thin spine as i work towards the tip fo the blade?
thanks for the help guys :D
 
Man...that sounds like a flat grind knife to me. Just my .02 cents.... :D

I would be scared of grinding to thin with the hollow grind.

Remember too that tapering the tang will lighten the handle and could make a large chefs knife way too front heavy. I've made a couple of large kitchen knives and actually needed to lengthen the handle design to add a counterweight for the big a** blade.

http://www.bgoodeknives.com/images/kitchenset.jpg

Notice how the larger knife has just a wee bit more handle. Not much but it balanced it to where the center was about 1" in front on the handle.

Not trying to talk you out of it but its something to think over.
 
sorry about the confusion brian i'm not going to taper the tang it will be for the blade. the 14" wheel actually puts a pretty good hollow grind without worrying about going through the stock. i figure with 5/32" i should be able to
grind that with no problem. i found the answer i needed from rene roy he said with the full grind it will naturally taper the blade. makes sense. now to let my boss know the price for getting blade blanks cut out :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: thanks for the reply
p.s. brian e-mail me your mailing adress and i'll send you your bees wax.
 
I don't think you will get a good taper unless you do it first.I flat grind and taper on a 6X48 then go to the 2X72 with a 14" wheel.'blgoode' is right about the extra length and mass in the handle making it easier to use.
 
Grasshoppa: When did you get a 14" wheel for your KMG??? I know you don't have one. HUH!! But I do. HUH!!! :confused: :confused: :confused:
 
Sounds like a flat grind job to me too, but I guess I don't know the height of the blade. Daniel's right that if you follow the edge while grinding you'll naturally taper the blade. Also, Bruce Evans once told me that a good start is to initially taper the blade the same way you'd taper a tang.

Making a counterbalance in a long handle is a great idea! I'll incorporate that next time myself, thanks.
 
The added length to the handle really helps with the larger knives. Dont just add length but also a little more hight to get that extra material in there for the weight. I also left more handle materal in the ass :D end of the handle and ground blade with a high grind and a nice taper to get rid of the extra material in the blade to lighten it some. I couldnt believe how much those tiny things came into play on the overall balance of the larger knife in this link
http://www.bgoodeknives.com/images/kitchenset.jpg

Let us know how it turns out Michael.

You may want to try grinding on a piece of 1/4" plywood to see how the hollow grind works out. This may be a flat grind project and wind up waisting a good piece of steel and time trying to hollow gring with such a high plunge in mind.
 
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