Will you Grind my Knife?

[P.Brewster]

Greetings everybody; I'm new to this forum and to knife making.

Although I eventually want to make my own knives, for the moment I am looking for someone to put the bevel on a knife blank (I will have the profile cut out).

It should be pretty easy because the design is a wharncliff/reverse tanto, so the cutting edge is perfectly straight, with a flat grind.

I also want to hear from anybody who knows about CNC/Automated grinding or anything other than freehand (jigs, guides, etc). Specifically, does anyone know if one can get an automated grinding set up for less than 3 grand? (I know CNC routers for wood, plastic, and aluminum are pretty cheap these days). When knives are CNC ground, is the tool an abrasive or an actual cutter?

Also: how are production knives made? CNC, right?

Also: can anyone enlighten me about knife/tool-grade titanium? Is it an alloy that allows it to hold an edge? Is it heat-treated like steel? Can you grind/machine it like steel? Example: mission knives, some toxic knives.

Also: does anyone make shuriken/chopsticks/spikes? Do you need a special lathe to lathe a 9" chopstick, in terms of managing the deflection of the stock?

Thanks, sorry about any stupid questions, and remember to dumb it down for me (I'm a carpenter).

Patrick

 

[deker]

I also want to hear from anybody who knows about CNC/Automated grinding or anything other than freehand (jigs, guides, etc). Specifically, does anyone know if one can get an automated grinding set up for less than 3 grand? (I know CNC routers for wood, plastic, and aluminum are pretty cheap these days). When knives are CNC ground, is the tool an abrasive or an actual cutter?

In all seriousness, trying to work up fixtures/jigs/widgets/hoosegows to make your grinds not suck is simply an expensive waste of time. I played with my grinding a little bit and once I had a feel for things I had a professional maker show me how. It took all of 15 minutes to have me doing decent full flat grinds. Take that $3k and buy a nice grinder, a pile of belts, a good vise, some files, and some steel to mess up. Then put the extra $1000 in the bank.

Also: how are production knives made? CNC, right?

Only very recently. You'd be suprised how many spot on production knives are still done by hand. There are armies of folks out there who could outgrind a lot of us in their sleep. Think of all the knives Buck/Camillus/etc produced until the 90s when CNC became a viable option for them...

Also: can anyone enlighten me about knife/tool-grade titanium? Is it an alloy that allows it to hold an edge? Is it heat-treated like steel? Can you grind/machine it like steel? Example: mission knives, some toxic knives.

I don't really know the specifics of Ti, but I've never heard of any that will hold a real edge.

Also: does anyone make shuriken/chopsticks/spikes? Do you need a special lathe to lathe a 9" chopstick, in terms of managing the deflection of the stock?

I know that deflection is a concern. I've not made any yet, but once I get my lathe set up more properly and build an offset center for cutting tapers I intend to give it a shot.

-d

 

[synthesist]

Toxic knives? What is a toxic knife? Toxic to who? Ima soooooooo confused about this comment.

Other then that I think Deker covered it pretty well.

Being a carpenter you all ready have an inkling of the many skills and talents that working with various materials like this brings to bear, in this case with metal instead of wood. Think the hardest maple you ever ran into and you'll do fine.

Syn

 

[langchop]

Hi Patriqq... welcome.

There are CNC machines which have a rotating grindstone against which a part is shaped, and its usually a wet process. I am not sure if a similar machine is used for knife production though.

I made a pretty simple jig for grinding my first knife bevels and it worked pretty well ( but it was a nicely bellied knife and dont think it would work as well for a straight blade) Some pics here, http://myhome.mweb.co.za/~20022586/jig.htm ... you could try making something similar for a straight edge. Your straight edge is probably ideal for trying to do your first bevel by hand, seeing as though you will only need to focus on maintaining one angle throughout

Titanium is not really a miracle steel. It is reputedly tough but generally will not get or hold as good an edge as most carbon steels.

Good luck

Lang

 

[P.Brewster]

"Toxic" is a brand of knives made by Eric Blair. He has no website, catalog, etc. He sells through the usual suspects forum.

Funny, though... 'toxic to who?'