Whats the one thing you learned....

Learned to grind a flat grind, flat. It was as much about switching to variable speed and then a disk grinder as it was learning. Maybe learning that my flats could be flatter is what made the difference.
 
Don't work tired to just, "get it done".

And anyone can assemble some knife shaped object. The skill is in the details of fit and finish.
 
Oh and to piggyback on Stacy's comment - Don't push harder on the 400 grit to get out that 120 grit scratch. Go back to 220 and save yourself some time and burned fingers.
 
One thing? Ha.

1. learn to grind flat with your 50 grit. The rest will be so much easier and you'll use far less belts.
2. Good file guides are worth their weight in gold.
3. Get nearer a finished grind on the grinder and your hand sanding will be a pleasure.
4. Look at your work often and from several angles. It sucks to see that issue after you get to the hand sanding bench.
5. The right tools make the work go quicker with better results.
6. And as my friend H says, Have a Plan!
 
Proper H/T & geometry for a given application are paramount. If these aren't dialed in correctly, everything else is a waste of time.
 
Testing multiple coupons at 10f intervals to optimize your heat treat for your specific oven. As Darren said, heat treat and geometry. I much prefer a high performance rough looking knife to a polished looking useless tool.
 
To get good plunge lines, use a file guide at the grinder from the get go.

And don't take the file guide off until you're absolutely positive there's no more grinding to be done. Then leave the file guide on anyway just in case.
 
Kinda like Stacy When you've sanded the back side of the stag slab enough go more.
 
i looked at expensive desirable knives and learned why mine do not look like them in many different ways. then i started trying to improve mine to look like theirs. work on the most obvious issues first to keep you inspired by your own improvements. smaller/nicer guard to blade joints, more consistent finishes, crisper lines, nicer plunges, more eye pleasing knife shapes, better fit, or joinery. better design flow. stuff like that.
 
I learned to ignore my brain. No really...

See, your eye can detect two or three thousandths of an inch differences easy enough, or the slightest of "off level", much less the simple mistakes, it's your brain that says "awh f*&^it, that's good enough".

Eye and brain are always at odds. Solution: ignore brain.

And I often revisit my mantra: "nothing is certain, everything else isn't"

m
 
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Horsewright said:
Kinda like Stacy When you've sanded the back side of the stag slab enough go more.
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of "enough"... it's whether it's flat or not. If that took 5 min. then good... if it took an hour then, well, it took an hour. (this is where brain plays devil's advocate....).
 
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