Bowie 2019 KITH Sean

I like the stainless idea it is different. I would like to see how that looks. Are you going to etch the blade at all? The contrast between the etched blade and the stainless guard might look good especially if your handle material is dark.
 
Chris Railey said:
I like the stainless idea it is different. I would like to see how that looks. Are you going to etch the blade at all? The contrast between the etched blade and the stainless guard might look good especially if your handle material is dark.
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The blades are made out of AEB-L. I don't believe I can etch that. I'll check into it though
 
Blades are back from heat-treat. I'll start on them in the morning. I have some clean up to do on them before I start on the primary grind.
These were heat-treated to RC62. The last time I worked on AEB-L that had been heat treated prior, they were at about 59-60. I don't know how much of a difference a couple of point of hardness will make. I guess I'll find out!
Heat treat RC-62.jpgAfter the discussion in
 
I did the initial grind this morning. 60 grit and I'm actually fairly happy at how the main grind turned out. However I'm hoping for some input on the swedge (wedge?) on the top grind. I was going to put in a distal taper starting at the back of the swedge as shown in red. However I'm thinking that is going to wash out the flow of the existing grinds. I was also planning on tapering the tang.

I'm uncertain how to proceed from here. Should I do a distal taper? or just finish out the top grind with a file and finish up the main grind...or something else? Thoughts and or any help are appreciated.

Hope this makes sense. I guess I'm just a bit uneasy to proceed because so far it looks OK and I don't want to mess it up.

60 grit first grind 2.jpg
 
I’m no help. I haven’t ground a blade that long nor have I ground a swedge. My only advice would be to take your time. Know what you’re gonna do before you do it. I will say those blades are looking great!!
 
Randy Lucius said:
I’m no help. I haven’t ground a blade that long nor have I ground a swedge. My only advice would be to take your time. Know what you’re gonna do before you do it. I will say those blades are looking great!!
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Thanks Randy. I was really nervous when I started the grind on this. I thought for sure I'd mess it up so bad I'd end trashing the knife.
 
More work on the Bowie today. I took the grind on the main part of the blad almost down to the edge at 220. The Swedge is giving me some difficulty. I think I will need to use a file and sandpaper to finish it up. I also established a distal taper starting at the Swedge. Three solid hours at the grinder, grinding very carefully.

This is the most difficult grind I've ever done. I'm thankful that AEB-L is easy to grind. There will be a lot of cleanup to do, but I'm relatively happy so far.
220 Grind 8-26-19.jpg
 
Is the tang already tapered? If not, I would advise doing that before proceeding much further with the blade grinds.

My personal order of operations would be:

1. Taper tang
2. Grind main bevels to finished height (I prefer ful flat grind)
3. Hand sand blade to next to last grit (600-800)
4. Grind swedge/clip grind
5. Sand clip
6. Touch up blade if necessary
 
J. Doyle said:
Is the tang already tapered? If not, I would advise doing that before proceeding much further with the blade grinds.

My personal order of operations would be:

1. Taper tang
2. Grind main bevels to finished height (I prefer ful flat grind)
3. Hand sand blade to next to last grit (600-800)
4. Grind swedge/clip grind
5. Sand clip
6. Touch up blade if necessary
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help John. I've been in a bit of a quandary as to what order to do these items in. I'll follow your advise and taper the tang next.

Your blades with a full flat grind are amazing. My original plan was to go about 3/4 to 7/8 up on mine; in other words height wise where I'm at now. I'll think about taking it full height. I do like the way the grind curves and I've matched it reasonably well (so far) on the other side. So I'll see how things go.
 
Sean Jones said:
Thanks for the help John. I've been in a bit of a quandary as to what order to do these items in. I'll follow your advise and taper the tang next.

Your blades with a full flat grind are amazing. My original plan was to go about 3/4 to 7/8 up on mine; in other words height wise where I'm at now. I'll think about taking it full height. I do like the way the grind curves and I've matched it reasonably well (so far) on the other side. So I'll see how things go.
Click to expand...

If your doing a separate bolster/guard from handle scales, you'll have to give some thought to where you're going to stop your taper. I chase mine out on the blade a little past the plunge line.

So you may have to tweak or even up your blade grinds, which is why I do them after the tang taper. The clip is last, even after hand sanding so the grind lines of the clip stay nice and sharp/crisp.
 
J. Doyle said:
If your doing a separate bolster/guard from handle scales, you'll have to give some thought to where you're going to stop your taper. I chase mine out on the blade a little past the plunge line.

So you may have to tweak or even up your blade grinds, which is why I do them after the tang taper. The clip is last, even after hand sanding so the grind lines of the clip stay nice and sharp/crisp.
Click to expand...
I do plan to use a separate bolster/guard. I've experimented on smaller knives with taking the tapered tang to just behind the bolster, or ever so slightly into it and then make certain it's flat through out.
 
Tapered the tang yesterday. More to do on it, but it's even on both sides. I need to check for flatness and most likely sand it on my granite plate.
Tapered Tang.jpg

I've run into a problem on the Claro Walnut. I don't think it's dry. I cut two pieces yesterday and the one piece warped badly just sitting on my desk overnight. It was the first piece I cut and I suppose it could have been a stresser, but I don't want to chance it, so I'm going with the buckeye burl after all.
Walnut and Buckeye Burl.jpg
 
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One of the small ovens in my shed has a stay on feature and if I am unsure of a woods dryness or before I put anything in the stabiliser I will set it on about 90F and leave it going for 3 or 4 days to make sure it is completly dry.
 
Redbaird said:
It is so hot where I am at the present, I just put wood in my 16 ft covered utility trailer and it kiln dries in no time.
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Fortunately for me, but maybe not for the wood, it's starting to cool off now. Enough so that I can work in my shop most afternoons.
I'm looking at getting a wood humidity tester. In the mean time I'll seal the end of the walnut and put it back with it's brethren and let it sit for another six months.
 
Sean Jones said:
Fortunately for me, but maybe not for the wood, it's starting to cool off now. Enough so that I can work in my shop most afternoons.
I'm looking at getting a wood humidity tester. In the mean time I'll seal the end of the walnut and put it back with it's brethren and let it sit for another six months.
Click to expand...
Was one side waxed? If so it could be reacting to different exposure on each side. If so the rest should be OK.
 
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