Hollow grinding!?

T

Timy

Well-Known Member
Alright, finally got myself a 12" contact wheel.

Curious if some of your more accomplished makers could help me out with the concept. I see some people just pull the blade across the wheel(edge up) and then pull the handle towards themselves when they hit the belly of the blade. Others I have seen move the knife so the edge is always perpendicular to the wheel.

I realize this is probably more of a 3m vs norton, personal preference but would love to hear some of your thoughts.

With a 12" wheel obviously I am going for a higher more subdued hollow then a deeper more contrasted hollow of say a 6 or 8" wheel.

I wish I would have gotten this wheel first. Its so quiet and makes profiling much more enjoyable then with my flat platen ;)

Thanks for your time guys.
 
Hello, I use a twelve inch wheel for most of my hollow grinding. I grind my blades as you described above, edge upward and pulling the handle toward yourself when getting to the curved section with a slight twisting motion. I scribe the edge with two parallel lines about .020 apart for keeping things even and centered. Practice, practice !! I still get rusty if I am away from it long enough, but after a few blades it's like riding a bicycle. If you only have the one wheel, keep it clean and smooth or your finish work will suffer. Grit particles will get impregnated into the wheel and transfer through thin finishing belts causing funky problems in your blade finish.
Take care,
Clint
 
Regardless of the size wheel, two methods work best for me depending on the style of grind.

The grind below is pretty much a straight pull, edge up while pushing a bit just above the center of the wheel. After HT I tend to use the top third of the wheel while pushing down with higher grit belts. That's the simple one.
5s17.jpg



The grind below is done with the blade edge up and tip tilted down slightly while pulling perpendicular at the center of the wheel. While pulling, I'll also force the blade up fairly hard once I get into the belly. It's easier to do than to describe. While pulling up, you can feel the belt grabbing the edge of the grind and taking material out. If you have scribe lines on the blade, your mind's eye gets pretty good at following it. After HT I use the top part of the wheel like above.
12y0.jpg


I like the hollow grinds for the character they can add to a blade depending on how you want to attack it. I mostly use my 10" wheel but can remember trying to grind the newness out the 12" when I got it. Practice and then practice some more.


Rudy
 
Thanks for the posts guys! I actually made about 100 wooden blanks last night to play with.

Rudy, gorgeous grinds man.
 
Let me get this right. Instead of tearing up expensive belts and steel to practice grinding on I can do it with a piece of wood on an old AO belt?
 
Roger said:
Let me get this right. Instead of tearing up expensive belts and steel to practice grinding on I can do it with a piece of wood on an old AO belt?
Click to expand...

To some degree thats true, But wood grind much different that steel does and worn belts don't grind or sand anything well and create a lot of heat. I only did the wood thing a couple of times. Others swear by it?
 
Roger, more to let me see what tilting the handle this way vs pulling it or rotating it will do to said grind. I use sharp cheap so belts and slow speed.

I learn by doing. This helps.
 
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