Best tool for cutting a blood groove?

N

nutria_man

Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
93
Other than a dremmel.. what do you folks use to cut blood grooves?

The problem I see with a dremmel approach is human error keeping the exact same line for both the width and the depth.. one cough and there goes the line..

Is there any 'assisted' way to keep the groove consistent?

What do folks use?
 
how bout a ball end mill, and a milling machine, or using the dremal clamp a guide for the hand piece to run along evenly. just couple ideas.

andrew
 
It is called a fuller and it is used to reduce weight without a large reduction in cross section. Similar in concept to an I beam. For example, a heavy bayonet hanging off the end of your rifle would be a bad thing, but a thin flimsy blade would be a bad thing too.

They're often either forged in, or milled.
 
Humm.. what a neat idea. Would you not get the old finger nail on the chalk board thing going on?

You know.. based on that scraper idea.. I bet I could bind a dremmel to some roller (like those fixed degree knife shapener).. and roll it back and forth...

Hum...

I tried to make a butterfly knife blade out of a piece of REX 95 once.. never could drill the holes in the thing..still have it too.. sitting in a box..

anyway.. thanks for the comments..
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
It is called a fuller and it is used to reduce weight without a large reduction in cross section. Similar in concept to an I beam. For example, a heavy bayonet hanging off the end of your rifle would be a bad thing, but a thin flimsy blade would be a bad thing too.

They're often either forged in, or milled.
Click to expand...

Nathan... do you know folks that do milling? The blood groove I am needing is not exactly linear.. it is flared at one end. I am using it to guide the knife in the sheath..so it is a tad more complicated.
I searched on milling on google.. there are a lot of links... so though I might ping you as I am searching..

Thanks
 
nutria_man said:
...... Would you not get the old finger nail on the chalk board thing going on?
Click to expand...

It only chatters when you have the rake (bite angle) wrong. You use many small smooth bites until you get the depth you want. It also allows you to taper the grooves by increasing or decreasing the pressure along the path.

Shoot me an email if you want one. I just finished a dozen file guides and need a break in the monotony
 
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nutria_man said:
Nathan... do you know folks that do milling? Thanks
Click to expand...

Yeah, I do. In fact, I've even been known to do it myself once in a while... ;)

You haven't filled out your profile so I don't know where you live. But if you happen to be near me you can swing by the shop some weekend and I'll be happy to mill any kind of groove you want.

Nathan
 
I think milling is the way to go. A straight cut like that is pretty simple, you could either do a flared fuller by doing it deeper on one side with a ball end-mill, or have it progressively wider on one end. The former would be easier by hand without cnc with a jig imho.
 
I agree with the milling.... just depends on the cost...I will ping nathan and send image and see about the cost.

glad this forum is here...
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Yeah, I do. In fact, I've even been known to do it myself once in a while... ;)

You haven't filled out your profile so I don't know where you live. But if you happen to be near me you can swing by the shop some weekend and I'll be happy to mill any kind of groove you want.

Nathan
Click to expand...

How do I send you an image?.. do you have some email address?
I have 2 pieces of CPM S90 and 2 of 3V... both are about .190 thick..(some are more and some are less)
 
One of my worst pet peeves.
quote from a recient post:

Fellows:
The BLOOD GROOVE is not for any purpose related to blood. It is called a fuller (bo-hi on Japanese blades) .

The old story about the groove being there to keep the blade from getting stuck due to a vacuum is just a funny tale told to novice smiths and Army privates so many times that the grinding crowd (stock removal chaps) started to believe it. It is not there so the wound will bleed out faster, either. The term was made popular by it being used in WW1 and WW2 with bayonets and fighting knives. Many well meaning Sergeants taught the recruits that they could not pull out the bayonet or knife without the "Blood Groove". A blade will pull out as easily as it goes in, unless it is lodges in bone. The body is under the same pressure inside as outside, and would create no vacuum. If the blood groove story was the case, you wouldn't bleed when cut (think about it?).
After the wars, the knife industry called it a "Blood Groove" because it just sounds meaner (and cooler) than "fuller". A knife called "The Combat Commando, with a Blood Groove" sold much better than "The Camper's Pal, with a fuller". Todays ,marketing and hype haven't helped with this at all. Even though less than 1/1000 of 1% of all knives are used in person to person combat, these selling tactics are still predominant.

A fuller is a way to make a blade lighter and stronger. It acts sort of like an I-beam does, by applying a stiffening factor in two directions. A fuller on a large sword can significantly lighten it, too.In the days when good steel was a precious commodity, a fuller also saved steel. In forging, a fuller widens the blade, thus allowing narrower stock to be used to create a wide blade like a bowie. In pattern welded blades ( and laminated Japanese blades), the fuller needs to be forged in to get the proper look. On regular mono-steel blades, like bowies and fighters, the fuller can be cut in with a mill, shaved in with a hand fullering tool, or forged in with fullering dies.

With all the bad press and other knife related legislation ,we as knife makers can do our industry a lot of good by stopping the use of terms like "BLOOD GROOVE and SWITCHBLADE.
Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
One of my worst pet peeves.
quote from a recient post:

Fellows:
The BLOOD GROOVE is not for any purpose related to blood. It is called a fuller (bo-hi on Japanese blades) .

The old story about the groove being there to keep the blade from getting stuck due to a vacuum is just a funny tale told to novice smiths and Army privates so many times that the grinding crowd (stock removal chaps) started to believe it. It is not there so the wound will bleed out faster, either. The term was made popular by it being used in WW1 and WW2 with bayonets and fighting knives. Many well meaning Sergeants taught the recruits that they could not pull out the bayonet or knife without the "Blood Groove". A blade will pull out as easily as it goes in, unless it is lodges in bone. The body is under the same pressure inside as outside, and would create no vacuum. If the blood groove story was the case, you wouldn't bleed when cut (think about it?).
After the wars, the knife industry called it a "Blood Groove" because it just sounds meaner (and cooler) than "fuller". A knife called "The Combat Commando, with a Blood Groove" sold much better than "The Camper's Pal, with a fuller". Todays ,marketing and hype haven't helped with this at all. Even though less than 1/1000 of 1% of all knives are used in person to person combat, these selling tactics are still predominant.

A fuller is a way to make a blade lighter and stronger. It acts sort of like an I-beam does, by applying a stiffening factor in two directions. A fuller on a large sword can significantly lighten it, too.In the days when good steel was a precious commodity, a fuller also saved steel. In forging, a fuller widens the blade, thus allowing narrower stock to be used to create a wide blade like a bowie. In pattern welded blades ( and laminated Japanese blades), the fuller needs to be forged in to get the proper look. On regular mono-steel blades, like bowies and fighters, the fuller can be cut in with a mill, shaved in with a hand fullering tool, or forged in with fullering dies.

With all the bad press and other knife related legislation ,we as knife makers can do our industry a lot of good by stopping the use of terms like "BLOOD GROOVE and SWITCHBLADE.
Stacy
Click to expand...

Blood groove is also a colloquial term.. you say it and everyone understands.. you say 'fuller'.. and then you get what did you eat last night..
 
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