Grinders going again / Knife WIP part 1

That's a nice machine Daniel. I would suggest to keep with the free hand, eventually things will come together. you may have to make some changes to your original grind lines as you go but you won't be saddled with a jig.
 
Drew Riley said:
Not a bad start. Don't be afraid to take it a little thinner, especially at the plunges.
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Thank you sir. It is not quite as thick as it looks in the pictures I got kind of a weird angle with the picture. I am thinking I’ll take a little bit more off though. Try and fix a few of my mistakes where the edge thickness is uneven. Must have been holding some uneven pressure on it when I was grinding
 
The stock was way too thick to begin with. 1/4th. I got it intending to forge it down and just hadn’t been able to get a forge up and going again after deciding to switch from coal. Should’ve just waited but I was dying to grind something out
 
Well those plunge cuts being uneven we’re driving me nuts. Fixed it somewhat but ran out of steel to play with so to the scrap bucket it went. Sorry for the slow update been super busy. Attempt 1 million coming soon! Lol. Having a blast and learning lots with each one
 
Daniel Macina said:
Well those plunge cuts being uneven we’re driving me nuts. Fixed it somewhat but ran out of steel to play with so to the scrap bucket it went. Sorry for the slow update been super busy. Attempt 1 million coming soon! Lol. Having a blast and learning lots with each one
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Everyone has been there and done that... chased the plunges right off the ricasso. This is where a super simple file guide is worth its weight in gold. Nothing more than two pieces of hardened carbon steel, one threaded and one with through holes. Clamp that sucker to the blade and you can run it right up to the edge of the belt and the the plunges will be even on both sides.
 
John Wilson said:
Everyone has been there and done that... chased the plunges right off the ricasso. This is where a super simple file guide is worth its weight in gold. Nothing more than two pieces of hardened carbon steel, one threaded and one with through holes. Clamp that sucker to the blade and you can run it right up to the edge of the belt and the the plunges will be even on both sides.
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Yessir. I have one but I always felt like it was getting in the way. I’m going to try one more without it then I might break it out again. Only got enough steel for one more try till next month. :oops:
 
Daniel Macina said:
Yessir. I have one but I always felt like it was getting in the way. I’m going to try one more without it then I might break it out again. Only got enough steel for one more try till next month. :oops:
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I hated it the first couple times, too. I have always been 100% freehand. Then I started paying attention to how much time it was taking me to “touch up” the plunges by eye 43 times until I was happy, compared to getting them right the first time with the guide clamped on. I got over the discomfort then.
 
Daniel Macina said:
Well don’t laugh too hard. Here it is. Not really the knife or the grind I was going for but the scrap buckets getting full so I better move forward with this one. All done freehand (First time trying that) plunge lines are uneven and the tips not quite centered either. It is what it isView attachment 68289View attachment 68290View attachment 68291
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Looking good! I like the shape a lot. Do you have a file guide? If not, I certainly recommend it. It will help you to nail the plunge lines. Great job!

Edit: I read above about the file guide. It is a bit weird at first, but stick with it. You will grow to love it.
 
Kevin Zito said:
Looking good! I like the shape a lot. Do you have a file guide? If not, I certainly recommend it. It will help you to nail the plunge lines. Great job!

Edit: I read above about the file guide. It is a bit weird at first, but stick with it. You will grow to love it.
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I need to just bite the bullet and buy one of Mr. Bumps Guides. Part of the problem is the one I have is fairly bulky lenghts wise at least. Just hard to spend the money as that’s most of the money I can afford to put towards knife making in a month. LOL. One step at a time I’ll get there eventually! Thanks for following along guys
 
Daniel Macina said:
I need to just bite the bullet and buy one of Mr. Bumps Guides. Part of the problem is the one I have is fairly bulky lenghts wise at least. Just hard to spend the money as that’s most of the money I can afford to put towards knife making in a month. LOL. One step at a time I’ll get there eventually! Thanks for following along guys
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You don’t need a mack daddy file guide for grinding plunges. Those are very expensive because they are designed for accurate filing.

All you need for plunges is $3 worth of carbon steel that you can heat treat. The grinder is going to eat it up eventually. Don’t destroy a good file guide using it at the grinder.
 
I think I used 1084.
 

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John Wilson said:
You don’t need a mack daddy file guide for grinding plunges. Those are very expensive because they are designed for accurate filing.

All you need for plunges is $3 worth of carbon steel that you can heat treat. The grinder is going to eat it up eventually. Don’t destroy a good file guide using it at the grinder.
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That is 'zactly what I was gonna suggest.
 
John Wilson said:
You don’t need a mack daddy file guide for grinding plunges. Those are very expensive because they are designed for accurate filing.

All you need for plunges is $3 worth of carbon steel that you can heat treat. The grinder is going to eat it up eventually. Don’t destroy a good file guide using it at the grinder.
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This very true! I even used needle nose vise grips for a while lol. Ive been thinking about making myself one or two for rough use.
 
Retroguy said:
Do you press the guide tight against the platen or the side of the belt since the belt hangs over a bit.
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Against the edge of the belt with nearly zero pressure. If the belt is running over the edge of the platen you don’t want to disturb the shape that it is taking. All you’re doing with the guide is using it as a depth stop for each side, as well as ensuring the angle of the plunge is the same on both sides.
 
Retroguy said:
Does anybody know if using aa jig would help build muscle memory and confidence to eventually go freehand or does it do the opposite?
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I am the last person to be giving anyone advice but I do have some experience with different jigs. In my opinion a typical jig that holds the knife for you will never really teach any kind of muscle memory. I do have a bubble jig that will teach you some good muscle memory and like that much better but when I used it I tended to pay more attention to the jig then looking at what the blade was telling me. I tried freehand grinding a week or two back and quite honestly I loved it. I found it much more enjoyable than any kind of jig. Plus I didn’t have to worry about anything attached to the blade That being said I do feel like the bubble jig taught me some basic angles that helped nothing wrong with any of them necessarily just my opinion.
 
Daniel Macina said:
I am the last person to be giving anyone advice but I do have some experience with different jigs. In my opinion a typical jig that holds the knife for you will never really teach any kind of muscle memory. I do have a bubble jig that will teach you some good muscle memory and like that much better but when I used it I tended to pay more attention to the jig then looking at what the blade was telling me. I tried freehand grinding a week or two back and quite honestly I loved it. I found it much more enjoyable than any kind of jig. Plus I didn’t have to worry about anything attached to the blade That being said I do feel like the bubble jig taught me some basic angles that helped nothing wrong with any of them necessarily just my opinion.
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I use a bubble jig almost all the time. I think it does help train muscle memory for freehand.

It does taking some getting used to and like you mention Daniel you can pay too much attention the Bubble Jig at the expense of watching your grind. I've found it works best if I pay close attention to the Bubble Jig when I'm first starting the grind. However once the angle is established it's much easier to just follow the angle and watch the blade. It's sort of a juggling act between the two, but it works for me.
 
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