Dedicated Bevellers?

D

D.A. Guertin

Joined
Oct 29, 2001
Messages
181
OK, so I now have 10 would-be knives sitting here, 7 different styles, hundreds of hours in R&D, prototyping, and profiling, and now I'm nervous. Do I really want to risk screwing up any one of these trying to get all the bevels laid? Anyone out there found they're better at bevelling than anything else? It's wierd how it works, I've had friends that were great at one end of things, and couldn't do the other end to save their lives, but this... I'm at a loss; does anyone have any advice?
 
DA
I'm a new guy in town so I am kinda going though the same thoughts. Like right now I want to do some file work. So I been practicing on some alum bar. till I get so good that I dont have to worry about screwing up the blade. I am much better at it now. So my moral is practice practice on some scrap till you can do it with no errors.
Good luck
Jack
 
Just grab some steel and start GRINDING!!!!!
You will never get good at it if you dont Grind.Some are naturals at grinding and others have to work at it.The fun thing about knife making is that you never have to stop learning something new unless you just want to stop.In a couple of years you will look back on this post and laugh and wonder why you were second guessing yourself while you go grind another blade.
Good Luck and Have Fun.
Bruce
 
Yep, go for it and keep practicing. Only done three and already seeing improvement. only way to learn.
 
D.A., I know just what you are going through. When I got started, I had a couple of knives profiled out that I was so proud of. I don't even want to go into what they looked like after I tried to grind the bevels into them. Needless to say, the knives were not usable. However, with each knife I worked on, the grinding got better and better. I have cup that's about 1/2 full of ruined folder parts. Just hang in there.
 
I'm just barely ahead of you on the learning curve, but what the other guys said is it. Grab one and screw it up.;)

I posted a couple of tips on flat grinding in the past that might help. I think it's the type of things that the pros don't need, but us beginners might find helpful:

How to fix a flat grind

There's another one but I can't find it. It's really helpful so I'll re-post:

Use a set of calipers and make 3 parallel lines at 25, 50, and 75% between the edge and the spine. If you look close you can see them on the bottom blade.

meknives.jpg



Then use a knife scribe and mark a center line and a line half way between the edge and the center.

Now while you are grinding you can monitor your progress. When you reach the half-way point to the center of the edge, you should be half way up to the spine. Then when you reach the middle of the edge you are at the top of the spine.

That really helped me set that bevel you're worried about. and fix it before it was too late.

My $.02

Steve
 
Ditto what every body else has said, practice, practice practice!

What helped me more than anything is to grind edge up, first grind a bevel like you are sharpening it, and on each pass put a little more back pressure untill you are where you want to be. It's a touchy feely kind of thing. Try to let the blade flot across the platten and dont be afraid to break out the files! My first blades had a lot of fileing and then hand rubing started in the 120 grit range.:D Also make sure you use fresh sharp belts, they releave the pressure you have to put on the blade and increase your control. And don't get in a hurry, it's easy to take steel off, hard to put back!

I know some people that grind edge up, some grind edge down, and some grind one side edge up an the other edge down. You have to find out what works for you, and then practice, practice, practice.

I'm no expert, but I'm starting to get pretty good grinds, even so I can still turn a 10" bowie into a 4" hunting knife on ocasion!
 
Thanks for the support guys. I guess I'll just have to psyche myself up to the point that the desire to see the finished knife seems worth the risk. Actually, I'm not too far from that point with a drop-point hunter I did last week. I already planned the jewelling, mosaic pins, and to have red liners with Thuya burl scales. Now if I could just work up the cojones... :(
 
In the past weeks ive had similar problems(still having). Being new to the craft Ive discovered hurdles after hurdles. Ive taken some classes from Goddard, and workshops and researched. At first I thought my problem was the low quality underpowered grinder. And after years of folks saying a good grinder is the best investment you can make so here last month I invested $2007.00 in a grinder and a hollow grinding jig. And i must say the grinders great it makes very fast work of reducing a otherwise fine chunck of steel into a piece suited for the recycling drum. My comparison is if a guy doesnt know how to drive his vw bug he practices and practices on his cute little car till hes had accident after accident untill the car is no longer usfull as such. So at that point he desides it must be the car so he goes and buys a ferrari and allthough the accident still happen and the practicing is alot funner the truth is this guy doesnt know the basics, he has had now pro hands on training. For me im get sick I go out to my shop I see equipment that out values my 91 s10 truck, and i just cant get motivated to practice anymore. For me I find by not knowing what im doing im locking in bad habits,and techniques. i guess i really need to go to some grind - ins in my erea or the seattle erea.. But to say the least this is a bad week for me.But have hopes that my blades will eventually come out better. Just need to network:grumpy: :confused: :yawn:
 
Mr. Guertin,
You have an open invitation to come by anytime. I can show you everything I know about knifemaking in about 10 minutes. I live in far west Houston. Bring your blanks on by and we'll take a look at them. You can take any "secrets" with you from my shop as long as you are willing to share them with other folks.

C Wilkins
 
I appreciate the offer; I may have to take you up on it after I move. I'm NW, in the Spring / Tomball area, so it shouldn't be too tough for me to get to your area. :) This is what I've got so far. The one at the very top is the first one I ever ground out (and I still grind it a bit every now and again).

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In addition to the above advice, I suggest you grind one or two baldes that you haven't planned anything for and that way the pressure is off. Screw it up and throw it away. No vision of the yet to be completed knife dancing around in your head. Might work.
 
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