S Grind

izafireman

izafireman

Well-Known Member
Well having done my second ever kitchen knife the other day I decided to free hand flat grind it, wow what a revelation, I wish I had done free hand years ago as it went like a dream and sooo easy. Oddly I learnt to free hand hollow grind years ago but never to free hand flat.

My next learning curve is going to be the 'S grind' and so my question is what size wheel would be the smallest for doing an 'S' on a kitchen knife as my smallest wheel is 12 inches but I am not sure if this would be OK.

Would I be better maybe getting a platen made with a radius instead and if so what size?.....or can these be purchased as I m having trouble finding any.

Hope all this makes sense and thanks in advance.
 
I want to make a radius platen for this purpose one of these days. I have been having good results with felt to give a convex grind to it after it is mostly flat ground, but the S grind will help take some weight out of the blade.
 
Taz575 said:
I want to make a radius platen for this purpose one of these days. I have been having good results with felt to give a convex grind to it after it is mostly flat ground, but the S grind will help take some weight out of the blade.
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There is not really that much in the way of information on the internet but I am pretty sure I know the method but it is just a case of knowing the radius to use on say a deep blades kitchen knife as surely if the wheel was too small the middle of the blade would become impossibly thin. I was thinking something like a 36-42 inch ish radius which I think I recall I saw someone using sometime back on a video which I cannot find now.

I would imagine a radius platen would get pretty hot too ....once again I am sure I saw water cooled platens some time ago.
 
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Yeah, 36-42" radius is what I am seeing most places I have looked. I am less worried about the heat with a variable speed grinder and dunking a knife in water. You aren't taking off much, so it's not a ton of grinding.
 
Taz575 said:
Yeah, 36-42" radius is what I am seeing most places I have looked. I am less worried about the heat with a variable speed grinder and dunking a knife in water. You aren't taking off much, so it's not a ton of grinding.
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With the heat I was thinking about the platen itself getting hot/wear , not the knife as I grind everything post HT and keep cool anyway.
 
You should be able to use hardenable steel or case harden it? I have seen wood used I think somewhere?
 
I am wondering if it would be possible to have some thin metal, like 1/8" thick, bent to the shape with flat ends to attach to an existing platen? Kinda like an Omega symbol? With the air under it, it may not heat up as much? You could slip some wet sponges in the gap under it?
 
Reeder makes a 48" radius platen (here) but it is pretty expensive. Nathan Carothers made some in the past, but I'm not sure if he has plans for any more in the future. I have a 36" one of his and personally I'm probably gonna grind the hollow section out with a 10-14" wheel, then blend it together and hand rub. Should work fine.
 
REK Knives said:
Reeder makes a 48" radius platen (here) but it is pretty expensive. Nathan Carothers made some in the past, but I'm not sure if he has plans for any more in the future. I have a 36" one of his and personally I'm probably gonna grind the hollow section out with a 10-14" wheel, then blend it together and hand rub. Should work fine.
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My problem is I am in the UK. But I just thought about asking a pal of mine who is an engineer to make me something ;)....always the best way.
 
It may not matter what radius you use as you will probably have to "flatten out" the grind by hand sanding a lot. That is if you want to do it right.
 
I got mine from Bill Behnke.
www.billbehnkeknives.com

36" Radius Platen-TW (2" X 10") — BILL BEHNKE KNIVES

This platen is intended for grinding a very shallow hollow grind on mainly chef knives (known as the “S” grind). The intent is to relieve the sides so that food sliced will not cling and also reduce the cutting surface for a smoother cut. 36" Radius Platen made from 4140 DCF steel. They are al
www.billbehnkeknives.com www.billbehnkeknives.com

It works well, and I didn't think the price was outrageous.
 
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