My WIP-Tactical Cleaver?

J

Jellis11

Well-Known Member
I am very knew to this hobby, so please be kind! This is my newest work in progress...a friend asked if I could make one and my answer of course was, sure! I just joined the forum today, so I don't have any prior pictures of the progression to here. I have a very simple garage/shop and not a lot of specialty tools yet, so I cut the profile from a bar stock of 3/16" 01 toolsteel with an angle grinder, and smoothed everything out with a combination of files and my bench grinder. I then drilled 3/16" holes for the handle pins or torx screws (?). After drilling holes, I scribed my horizontal center and used a homemade filing jig (idea borrowed from Gough Customs) to cut my bevels to a predetermined stopping point. Then screwed the knife blank to a post that I secured in my vise and draw filed the bevels until all the scratches were gone. And that is where I am at this point

So, question.....I think I may have left the blade edge a bit thicker (@ 1/16") than I should have and I don't want to go back and mess up the work I already did cleaning up the scratches in the bevels. Should I try to create my secondary bevel and take a little more off with a file now? (I don't have a proper grinder yet) Or wait until after heat treat? I know I don't want to get too thin for fear of warping in heat treat, but is this too much to do afterwards with a file?

Next up, I plan on some file work on the spine, sand everything down to around 600g and heat treat. The fellow I'm making this for has a piece of zebra wood he wants to do the handle in. I'm pretty stoked about everything so far!

Any comments, questions or constructive criticism are very welcome! I am not above learning!!

Thanks for looking,

Jeff
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Man, that's a lot of filing and a darn good looking finish for files. I'm no expert on cleavers but would tend to think that a secondary bevel on such a tool would be ok because the tool isn't used to slice so to speak, but power its way right through whatever it is your choppping. To me the secondary bevel would mean more strength and weight. But again, that's the way my mind see it. Thanks for showing.

Wayne
 
Thanks for the compliments and input Wayne! Yes, it was a lot of filing, but I'm getting used to it.....It"ll make getting my 2 X 72 grinder built so much more exciting!
 
So, I wanted to try my hand at filework on this blade....I may have let it get a tad out of hand, but I think for the most part it turned out okay...
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