Which is tougher?

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
28,076
2" wide, 80 Grit belt running wide open?
Or
the top side of a newbie's index finger ? ;)

Man that sucks, Matthew got me thinking of grinding again
been a LONG time and of course wasn't careful at the git go
plus it was dark where I was at, at my day job they have a
belt sander they allow me to 'use', lights were off, just had
a small lamp near by to guide me, to say the least, I was MUCH
more attentive during the rest of the grinding :)

oh, it's a small Kiridashi of D2, for the unnofficial non-sanctioned-Ashokan-Kiridashi-Non-Challenge :)

I'm sure you guys have much WORSE stories regarding knife making!

G2
 
Glad to hear it wasn't serious! And, don't forget pics! (of the Kiridashi, not the finger:p)
 
Thanks Mike, I do feel lucky, as I wasn't pressing hard when it slipped off
the side and the top of my finger nail and first digit were made ever so much thinner
told my daughter it'll make it easier to pick my nose now ;)

as to the Kiridasi, I have a feeling it will be a knife only a mother will love kinda thing
here's a shot of the work in process

Overall length is 6"
edge is 2 1/2"
3/16" thick D2 steel
Chisel ground blade

to me, it already feels quite comfortable in the hand, very sturdy
but, I think it goes back to that only a mother could love bias I have :)

G2_Kiridashi.jpg


G2
 
The thing about gash's from belt grinders is theres never a part to sew back
on or to heal too. Never had it happen where I can say I didn't know I shouldn.t
have been doing what I was doing. I'll vote for the newbies finger, when a belt
is shot its over and very fortunatley our fingers usually heal. (not always though)
Ken.
 
Yep, that's just what my friend at work said when he saw the bandaid :)
just got to let it heal up! Glad I hadn't changed out to a brandy new belt yet!
Was getting ready to but was doing the curve for the top area and wanted it
a bit smoother, so the semi worn belt was working ok, until...

G2
 
Not your fault Gary....some on this forum claim you have to have a 2 HP motor on the grinder else you can stop it with your thumb, right?
Blame it on them......:D:D:D:D
 
Looking good, man!


Funny... I'm typing with 1.3 fingers right now because I ground the tip off my left index finger and a big patch off the pad of my right thumb - working on MY kiridashi! Bad form + stupidity + 55mph belt + 50 grit = lots of missing flesh.

My excuse can't be anything other than being a dolt, though.
 
That's a little consolation there, thanks Matthew! also folks, Matthew has offered
to heat treat this little red headed stepchild of a Kiridashi for me too, very cool again!
G2

edited to say, I need to figure out more words that don't require the left index finger's use...:( ouch
 
Gary, you haven't lived till you ground off the nail and the offending finger with it! The bitch is when you go right back and do it again, there is something about that second time that really hurts. :o like the devil!!!
I got a feeling that Redheaded step child may turn out awsome, cant' wait to see it done out!:cool:
 
my favorite is walking up accidently along side the 10" buffer coated with 400 grit compound running at 1725 to a finger or hand ! :eek:
 
Thanks Dixie, limited tools, we shall see how we fare and Leu
that would be a nasty encounter!

I remember meeting Tom Cute, he was sharpening a combat knife
on a belt sander when the edge dug in and flipped the knife down
and nearly chopped of his finger, nasty work, he still had the drive
wheel from the sander where it cut into it, as well as the scar :(
G2
 
Fingers healing nicely, feels weird like I lost feeling in it as it's healing
and my finger nail has the look of a meteorite shower with all the deep
scratches cutting across at an angle to the nail, freaks the daughter out
just a little ;)

And my little Kiridashi has landed at the MG residence for a little Heat Treat
kindness, when I get it back I'll be hand sanding down the edge to a zero
bevel kinda deal there, I drilled a few holes in the handle, was going to cord
wrap, or leave it plain, as it's fairly thick, but I thought I'd try putting some
scales on, we shall see how that goes!

My disk sander died this morning, probably sometime late last night actually as
the storm rained into our shed and the counter top material I made the 9" disk
out of had gotten water logged on one side and now it's WAY out of balance
will need to get something to replace that asap! Will look for a flat piece of
aluminum at work tomorrow and see if I can get it cut into a neat circle

G2
 
Its the finer grit belts that get me while shaping handles... those finer belts will cut like a razor if you run a finger or 3 into the edge of them....

Wiping it with a rag ( un-knowingly ) soaked in acetone will make you forget all about the belt ..... somehow I know this... ;)
 
OUCH John, hurts just reading that, as a famous line in several movies

"it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye..."

I really do try to keep things as safe as I can, I know one thing that I
really need would be a dust collector, but haven't saved up the $$ for
something like that yet, would be a great thing to have!!

G2
 
Got her back from heat treat, thanks to Matthew Gregory!
tried to get some scales on her but really lack the tools
and place to do this, :( so I'll just leave her plain jane for now
and leave the knife making up to you professionals!
I'll just stick to folder sheaths, :)
G2
 
Yah, Chuck Norris is pretty tough! I'm still waiting for that movie Side Kicks to come out on DVD!

Well, like it or not, here is the G2 Kiridashi with stingray skin and cord wrap, which was
a little tough being a narrow handle AND the epoxy I had was a bit on the thick side
I may tear it off and do it again with some thinner stuff, but, for now, this works
and she is sharp!

G2_kiridashi-1.jpg


G2
 
Last edited:
As I say, it's the kind of knife a pirate might carry ;)

Just working on this LATE tonight, need to finish the edging and
apply the wax coating but she's all most finished up
The fitup is pretty good, inside there is a cam like piece that locks
the blade in, it fits just where my thumb rests on the spine so it keeps
the knife from coming straight out, have to insert it at an angle, nice and snug :)

G2_kiridashi_sheath.jpg


The jolly roger, had that a while now, figured it would go well on this rascal;

G2_kiridashi_sheath2.jpg


G2
 
I ended up cutting off the old wrap, that quick setting epoxy certainly didn't
work well, it's crazy out there, they have 1min, 5 min, 7 min, but couldn't find
the 60 min which is a bit looser when mixed up and soaks into the lacing better.
SO, I took some super glue that is a brush on type and just applied that, seemed
to work pretty well, looks and feels a lot better!

G2_kiridashi_new_wrap.jpg


also finished the sheath, as you can see I added a retaining strap, which works very well
as the knife will not pull out straight up, so the strap will keep it from ever falling out :)

G2_kiridashi_final.jpg


also in the first image you can see how thick that rascal is! over a half inch thick!
G2
 
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