Ugh!!..Nail nick problems again

Bruce Bump said:
Thats hard to believe Don III. Ive admired your nicks for years. :D
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Cut and carefully shaped with a flex shaft tool, all hand held. :D


Bill DeShivs; Since a lot of you guys are forgers, why not just stamp the nick in?
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Bill, I stamped nicks for years, years ago. It works, but todays slipjoint buyers are a picky lot, and are looking for near perfection.
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Regardless of stock removal or forged, nicks are traditionally forged into blades. Simply make a nick-shaped punch, harden it, and stamp the unhardened blade. Finish as necessary.
Machining the nick is fine, but unnecessary.
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Good idea Bill. I wonder if thats how some of the old time slippies have the striker in the nick? I love those fancy nail nicks.
 
Well...when Bruce Bump said he had problems just like me..me thinks...WOW!!..I am just like the great Bruce Bump!:D So I ordered a 1/4" white wheel and will try on my surface grinder. Then...me thinks again...ah hah........if Cubane can do it ...well so can I. I head out to the shop and grind one that looks like his....and voila...mine cuts as well as his...I think. Cut five in a row 1.25" long and about 3/32" wide......perfecto...uh..Spanish for good.:D The good people on this board have done it again. Thanks everyone.
 
John L said:
Well...when Bruce Bump said he had problems just like me..me thinks...WOW!!..I am just like the great Bruce Bump!:D So I ordered a 1/4" white wheel and will try on my surface grinder. Then...me thinks again...ah hah........if Cubane can do it ...well so can I. I head out to the shop and grind one that looks like his....and voila...mine cuts as well as his...I think. Cut five in a row 1.25" long and about 3/32" wide......perfecto...uh..Spanish for good.:D The good people on this board have done it again. Thanks everyone.
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Yep, I've tried all of the above methods except stamping em in and the best results is from grinding on the surface grinder. Harvey Dean actually told me that so he should get the credit. I'm sure he wasnt the first but at least he was the one I talked with about it. Happy to pass it on.
 
John L said:
Well...when Bruce Bump said he had problems just like me..me thinks...WOW!!..I am just like the great Bruce Bump!:D So I ordered a 1/4" white wheel and will try on my surface grinder. Then...me thinks again...ah hah........if Cubane can do it ...well so can I. I head out to the shop and grind one that looks like his....and voila...mine cuts as well as his...I think. Cut five in a row 1.25" long and about 3/32" wide......perfecto...uh..Spanish for good.:D The good people on this board have done it again. Thanks everyone.
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Glad you got it working. The fly cutter ones are a bit tricky as you have to do them before HT but you will get the hang of it after the first couple. I also really like the look of the darkened interior you get in the nail nick after HT. Having "clean" nail nicks seems a bit weird to me.

Alistair
 
With the fly cutter I usually cut mine up side down on a right angle mounted in a vise. it can be a bit tricky.
 
Bill Ankrom once told me that he made a dedicated nail nick machine from either a swamp cooler motor or a washing machine motor. He made a mandrel that would hold a dressed stone and mounted it on the shaft. He then made some kind of hinge mechanism that allowed him to lower the stone onto the blade to grind his nick. It should be fairly easy to make something similar with the skill set most of us here have.
 
Sorry for the thread resurrection but looking for some advice please.
Well I've been trying to find a way of machining the dreaded nail nick in rwl34 which is my go to steel. Trying the flycutter route but all the tools just seem to round the ends off! Tried going real slow but no difference it's as though the HSS bits are too soft!
Any ideas much appreciated.
Ian
 
ort
oldoak said:
Sorry for the thread resurrection but looking for some advice please.
Well I've been trying to find a way of machining the dreaded nail nick in rwl34 which is my go to steel. Trying the flycutter route but all the tools just seem to round the ends off! Tried going real slow but no difference it's as though the HSS bits are too soft!
Any ideas much appreciated.
Ian
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I have been using a Norton abrasive cup wheel
try this thread - https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/nail-nick-grinding.1554383/#post-17848415
 
Just tried two more flycutter bits and each just rounded off without cutting the slot. Wondering if the rwl34 is annealed from the supplier. This has to be one of the hardest parts of folder making!
Ian
 
oldoak said:
Just tried two more flycutter bits and each just rounded off without cutting the slot. Wondering if the rwl34 is annealed from the supplier. This has to be one of the hardest parts of folder making!
Ian
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try searching for grinding cup wheel on eBay
seriously, it takes seconds with this abrasive wheel....
ujgRLSg.jpg

ie16y0U.jpg
 
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If your HSS flycutter bits aren't cutting it, you may want to look for better hss toolbits.

Are you buying some specifically sold as "fly cutter" bits? Because that's a bit of a flag for me. You should be buying good quality, USA made lathe tool bits, and sharpening them yourself. If you do, I bet you'll have no problems.

I'm a big fan of using abrasives also, but most makers aren't getting acceptable quality nail-nicks, in my opinion, from them. I expect to see razor sharp corners in my nail nicks with good definition and no perceptible "abrasive" marks in it. I use abrasives because I prefer to cut my nail nicks typically, last, since it gives me more latitude to set it where I want, and adjust the attitude and general flow of the blade, clip, etc. However, fly cutter and punched nicks, look the best as a baseline. It's very tricky to get great results with abrasives.


If you're using import HSS, that's your problem. If not, what specific HSS are you using? Are you grinding your cutters, and hand burnishing/relieving the edge? Is the tip getting burned off or knocked off?
 
I have spent a lot of money and time on grinding nail nicks. I frustrated myself trying to stamp them. I now do slotted nail pulls, which forces me to try more modern looking overall designs. One of those things i will never be happy with i think.
 
javand said:
If your HSS flycutter bits aren't cutting it, you may want to look for better hss toolbits.

Are you buying some specifically sold as "fly cutter" bits? Because that's a bit of a flag for me. You should be buying good quality, USA made lathe tool bits, and sharpening them yourself. If you do, I bet you'll have no problems.

I'm a big fan of using abrasives also, but most makers aren't getting acceptable quality nail-nicks, in my opinion, from them. I expect to see razor sharp corners in my nail nicks with good definition and no perceptible "abrasive" marks in it. I use abrasives because I prefer to cut my nail nicks typically, last, since it gives me more latitude to set it where I want, and adjust the attitude and general flow of the blade, clip, etc. However, fly cutter and punched nicks, look the best as a baseline. It's very tricky to get great results with abrasives.


If you're using import HSS, that's your problem. If not, what specific HSS are you using? Are you grinding your cutters, and hand burnishing/relieving the edge? Is the tip getting burned off or knocked off?
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Hi, the HSS bits came with the flycutter holder/tool when I bought it. I've never ground tool bits before so it's probably my poor ability on that!
The tip just seems to round off.
 
HSC /// said:
try searching for grinding cup wheel on eBay
seriously, it takes seconds with this abrasive wheel....
ujgRLSg.jpg

ie16y0U.jpg
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Thanks for the pics, tried emailing Norton and the lady there tells me they are special order min/50 units! Will have a search on Fleabay and see what I can come up with.
Ian
 
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