Suggestions for good clean bevels and ricassos?

That's a cool rig! Did you get the email?knife grinder.jpg
This is the grinder I made from plans I got from the link I sent you. I also made a flat platen and a tool rest, I am old and shaky. Its running on 220 now, in the pic it was 110. I welded it together with a 110 mig. Grizzly tool sells the big wheel. The rest came from Ebay.
 
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I did get the email. Got to get the wifes laptop and printer fired up today and print them off. Thanks again man. Thanks also for the kudos on the YUK.
 
10-6-2014 030.jpgI've been using a Craftsman 2x42. I think I paid $130 for it new. It runs way too fast. So then I philphered the motor, motor control and drive pulley off an older tread mill. The kind with a slide switch not the new digital treadmills. I highly modified the Crapsman to be variable speed using philphered parts. I've ground about 25 blades on this setup and shes still kicking. I just got a shiny new KMG last month so the old grinder is going to play backup from now on. What was nice about the 2x42 is the range of grits available (even scothbrite). I got all mine from Trugrit.
Hey Wall e, If you're ever going to be in the Grants Pass area let me know. I'll show you my grinder mods. I've got a couple of treadmill motors laying around too.
 
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Jbh blades said:
View attachment 51529I've been using a Craftsman 2x42. I think I paid $130 for it new. It runs way too fast. So then I philphered the motor, motor control and drive pulley off an older tread mill. The kind with a slide switch not the new digital treadmills. I highly modified the Crapsman to be variable speed using philphered parts. I've ground about 25 blades on this setup and shes still kicking. I just got a shiny new KMG last month so the old grinder is going to play backup from now on. What was nice about the 2x42 is the range of grits available (even scothbrite). I got all mine from Trugrit.
Hey Wall e, If you're ever going to be in the Grants Pass area let me know. I'll show you my grinder mods. I've got a couple of treadmill motors laying around too.
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I did something similar with a Craftsman 2 x 42 until I had sold enough knives and put one/third of the selling price in a coffee can, 1/3 to buy more materials and 1/3rd to the misses. OH that's right! I didn't have a misses back then! So I put two thirds of it into more materials. After I had burned through two Craftsman's 2 x42's . They will replace them if you don't modify it and the motor burns from the dust. I used two little C-clamps to hold a better platen on.

Then I had the money for a Coote. www.cootebeltgrinder.com Thought I prefer having a 1 1/2HP or more motor. If you work on the smaller side and don't try to grind a lot of 9" long 3/16th thick Bowies out of the machine. You can get away with a 1HP motor and two step pulleys on a Coote 2 x 72.

My Coote has a new reincarnation on a hand dolly cart with a one HP Variable doing mobile sharpening out of the back of my truck and a Farmers Market on Sundays. If you decide to get one, there are a bunch of little tricks I came up with over the years to use every inch of that simple machine.
 
Rhino I have a missus and shes supportive of this hab er hobby that can profit a little from. But at the moment the coote is out of reach, she does like the save a portion for new tools and a portion for the house and a portion for materials. My issue is I want new better tools now. Lol am scrounging up parts for a build my own an runner till she blows to quote my buddy.
 
Make a simple jig.

Use the jig.

A novice with a jig will beat the most experienced hand out there all day, every day.
 
Thanks Bush Monkey. I also discovered I was pushing the blade accross the grinder and running over my ricasso edge. Practiced not pushing and ricasso stayed.
 
There are reasons why machinists, woodworkers and people who are serious about precision and repeatability use jigs. The reasons are not "broad" and there are few "variables".
 
If you are looking to produce precision bevels and plunge lines and false edges along with precision sharpening you might want to check out my invention.
Its easy to use, highly adaptable and repeatable . I agree Bush Monkey, not because of the tools I make but because it makes perfect sense. I use jigs and fixtures to weld, on the mill, band saw, drill press and many other places in the shop. I love to do freeform but if I'm looking for precision its jigs all the way.

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The part I disagreed with is not that a jig ***might*** make a good grinder even better. It was that a novice using a jig would beat a master grinder all day every day.

Just look around the forums at all the 'Hey look at my first knife' posts. There are lots of knives on this forum alone made by novices using all manner of jigs and they have a LONG way to go on their grinds and plunge lines compared to many experienced makers' knives who I know for a fact do not use jigs.

Thus:

Bush Monkey said:
A novice with a jig will beat the most experienced hand out there all day, every day.
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is simply not true.

To spout the above quote or to defend it is pure lunacy. Plain and simple.
 
Although I can see where this is headed, I'm with John.
In 30+ years of grinding freehand, I know for a fact that I can impart free flowing character to a blade as compared to a rigid jig with a back and forth motion. Particularly in a hollow grind and in very little time.

The above comment by Bush Monkey only represents repeatability in two planes, always the same cooky cutter results where as freehand you control all planes with diversity in a grind. I personally don't care if anyone jigs their blades or not but sooner or later someone will ask you if you can do anything else. My 2 cents and done.

I don't consider Freds' a rigid jig, it's more of a grinding aid which still allows for freeform movement.

Rudy
 
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wall e said:
Mr Doyle has a good experienced hand I believe?
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Yes, J. and Rudy and many others here can grind free hand or not, The talent learned by grinding free hand lets you expand your talents and ideas to the 10X, Jigs while they work and I do use them for some parts of grinding knives also keep you grinding what the jig can do.

Both have their place, but having the knowledge and talent of free hand grinding will give you unlimited potential in your designs.
 
My plunge lines are what I screwed up. Is going to take more practice to get them right. I am going to try to make a jig this week to work with my lack of experience on plunge lines. Lol
 
The knife making aristocracy has (predictably) spoken.

Artistic expression - whatever that term means, is different from precision and repeatability. Again, if you are serious about precision and repeatability, use a jig. If you want to express yourself artistically, grind freehand.

"Flowing character", talent shows and freeform movement do not alter truth - A novice with a jig can grind with greater precision and repeatability than the most experienced freehand.

This is about as much as I want to dignify this "discussion". Have a nice day.ps Jigs are evil.
 
You know what Bush Monkey..........you've been run out of other places for aggressively pushing this same nonsensical rhetoric. As soon as this conversation ever comes up, you instantly take the stance that unless you use a jig, you're an infidel.

If you look back, no one said anything about whether jigs were good or bad. I couldn't care less how someone grinds their blades.......but you evidently do. All I did is address your untrue blanket statement that 'any novice could grind with a jig better than any experienced maker without one'. All should be able to see the folly in that statement just by perusing the forums.

I find it interesting that most, not all, makers that so aggressively push a grinding jig seem to make no blades longer than 4" and with a primary bevel that only goes 3/8" up the blade. And I'm pretty sure I know why. Some guys have advanced and made better jigs that give them more freedom. But the first group then goes on to make unfounded claims as to why that short knife with a main bevel that only uses 20% of the available steel and has the slicing geometry of a splitting maul is better than all other grinds. It sure makes me wonder if that thinking stems from insecurity over their own grinding abilities.

And that is all I have to say on the subject.
 
wall e said:
My plunge lines are what I screwed up. Is going to take more practice to get them right.  I am going to try to make a jig this week to work with my lack of experience on plunge lines. Lol
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Walt,
Take two pieces of scrap bar stock and dress the ends on your flat sander. Then use a 1" C-clamp, about $2.00 at the hardware store to tighten them down evenly where you want your plunge lines. The steel doesn't even need harden or have a carbide insert but you will need to square up the pieces again after each knife. This will give you a usable jig to start your plunge lines evenly.

Later you can get one of Bruce Bump's, Bump & Grind grinding jigs.
 
Thanks rhino. The 4x36 that im using will coincide with the jig because the body of it would stop all movement when the jig makes contact.
 
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