Droppoint, CPUSER,
I still consider myself a newb and I've been making now for over 2 years, I say that because there is so much to learn. One of the many reasons I love making knives. It's near impossible to get bored with it! We've all had to scrap blades that we have put an incredible amount of time in, it's just part of the process.
Here's a few tips to help that from happening as much, it doesn't help with the speed, but your success rate will increase BIG TIME! After I get done with my forging and grinding, I hand sand my blades to about 400 to 600, I use a stick of 1084 that is about 2 1/2 to 3 feet long X 1 1/2" wide X 1/4" thick, I use some double sided tape to attach a strip of leather that is about an 1/8" to a 1/4" over lapped on one side. With this I can keep my bevels, it allows me to apply a lot more pressure angling the steel to the bevel on the blade, and if I need a hard face to it, I just flip it over to the bare side. A tip we all got from Frank Niro, is to use some Mobile 1 synthetic oil when you're sanding, I cut my sand paper into about 1 1/2" wide strips (and wrap the paper around the steel), unless it's a wider blade then I may go up to about 2" wide, add a little oil to the blade, I try to get a good thin cover on the blade and anywhere else that will be seen. Now since I finished on the grinder at about 400, I will generally start out around 80 grit, yeah 80 grit, and work my way up through the grits. There are great makers out there that are rolling their eyes, thinking I'm crazy, which probably isn't far off the mark! From 80, I go 100, 180, 220, 320, 400, 600, now here is the even crazier part, from here I do my HT. Coming out of the temper I start over again at 80 grit, and then work my way up through the grits again, I NEVER take my blades back to the grinder, unless it is a situation that if I don't fix an error it will wasted anyway, then I will, but I'm extremely careful, use a high grit belt (depending on the error) and don't try to fix a lot of diffeent problems, if they are any. I try to avoid going back to the grinder if at all possible. Even if that means hand sanding for hours! I've been doing it like this since I had so many blades I wrecked when I first started, since then I may have may have messed up 2 or 3 and that's been over a 2 year time frame. My way is just one of thousands, it's what I got comfortable with, the only downside to it other than the huge amount of time and sand paper in it, is that if your not real careful you can wash out your grind lines, if you want to keep them, I flat grind, and take that line almost to the top of the blade so it's not as big of an issue for me. With the Mobile 1, you will be amazed at the finish at 50 grit, now that is one thing that will speed up the sanding process.
This is only my way, not the right way or the wrong way or the best way, it works for me, I know I will not realize a profit when I sell a knife, and right now that's fine. I'm paying my dues and still learning, take what you can use from my way of doing this process, and what you already know, and anything else you can pick up along the way. Ya'll find the best way for you if you all continue working at it. Knife maing isn't a get rich quick scheme, it take syears of working with steel and studying. It's a constant thing that is almost all consuming to learn everything that is needed to know about making knives is long process, get comfortable with that aspect and realize it takes time to gather all the information you'll need.
A couple of more things, pick 1 or 2 types of steel to work with, especially if your doing your own HT, learn eveything there is to know about these types of steel before you move on to another, I feel very strongly that 1084 should be one of them, but you all are the ones to decide that. Next, great sand paper will pay for itself, crappy stuff like what Harbor Freight has, will only serve to discourage you, I like,...no LOVE Rynowet Redline, it is the best stuff there is, and it doesn't cost that much more than the cheap stuff at Wal mart, plus it lasts so much longer than any of the others. I still have some of the higher grit sheets I originally bought on my first purchase 2 years ago! The higher grits don't take long and if you're as conservative as I am, it will last a long time, the lower grits will cut better and longer than any of paper I've used. You can order it from Tru Grit, and I think Super Grit may carry it. Another thing, if you do end up screwing up several blades, don't chunk it aside if you've made several mistakes in a row, go ahead and finish one of them out, on my first few it seemed like I was never going to get to the step of attaching the handle slabs on the blade, so after a while I decided to go ahead put some slabs on it and finish it out the best I could, it ended up being a great shop knife, you can also use it to test your HT if you're doing it yourself. Once you're done with the HT and tempering, break it and check out the grain structure. Next thing, if your havingtrouble grinding and getting that right, I highly recommend Fred Rowe's Bubble Jig, there will be several folks that say "NO, learn to grind without it", I say, "it's a tool that will help teach you to grind", I'm blind in my left eye and my depth perception is awful, The Bubble Jig has improved my griding skills 10 fold! I still use it to check my angles, but really don't have to have it, it has helped me remendously! It's not expensive and one of the best purchases I've ever made!
Enjoy the process, don't worry so much about making a lot of knives, as your skills increase so will your speed. I get lost in the hand sanding, and have actually had sanded a blade sharp! Like I said, take what you can use from my process and maybe some other guys will chime in and add their way to this, and then you all come up with your own way. Hope this helps, REX
