Knife bevels without a plunge line...My take

Johan Nel

Johan Nel

Well-Known Member
I have seen on especially kitchen knifes, mostly the Japanese style knifes, but also a number of western types that did not have any visible plunge lines showing, and this has intrigued me quite a bit.
I had a bird and trout knife planned, and I started toying around with the idea of making it without any plunge lines. Being a total newbie in terms of knife making, and with no specific idea on how to achieve this, I had commented on one of John Wilson's threads about my idea. John gave a description of how he executes this on his kitchen knives. Dennis Morland also kindly directed me towards some youtube videos on this. Once I had viewd the videos I felt comfortable enough to try this out for myself.
First off, I need to point out that I do not have a belt grinder of any sort, but do most of the stock removal with a filing jig and hand filing.
Secondly, the blade that I am working on had some faults to it, so if I screwed this up, it would not be a train smash, but I would have gained some experience in the process.
I had done the basic profiling of the blade a while ago, so what I did next was to determine the procedure to follow. I decided to determine a diagonal line across the ricasso area from the choil area to the back of the blade up to where I would file, but not beyond.
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This I carefully measured out on both sides and marked out.
Once I had done that I set up the blade in the file jig and started filing away going up the blade in increments.
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Constantly watching both the progess upwards to the back of the blade and towards the line I had drawn as well as the blade edge itself.
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The blade is a hardened steel, so filing this was quite an effort. I had really built up a sweat after each session. This is how it progressed:
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This is what it looked like after I had reached the line on the blade.
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And the other side:
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Nero, the resident shop assistant casting a critical eye over proceedings.
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The first side I did had a pronounced ridge that I was concerned I would not work away with further filing, but it ended up blending quite well after some more draw filing with a 2nd cut file to remove the initial deeper lines of the bastard file. I hand sanded both sides to a toothy or j marked 400 grit.
I will take some more pictures of the blade and discuss the proces further. I am happy to conclude that on both sides of the blade, I was able to approach the line exactly as I had drawn it and did not go over it. On both sides with hand sanding, the bevel blended very well with no discernable plunge. If i go over it with my fingers, it is not discernable either. Still some work on the blade, but overall I am quite happy with the outcome to date.
 
Thanks guys. The attached photo shows how it came out after hand sanding. I apologise for the poor lighting and poor photographs in general. I have only my cell phone and no set up for photography at all.
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That is clean. Your pictures explanation of what you did helps me out a lot. I've been grinder hunting and it's not going to happen right now. This is a good alternative for now. Maybe I can produce some clean knives, too, this way even at an early stage
 
scott.livesey said:
good job. none of my blades have a plunge line, just don't see the need.
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I think you're right. But you make fairly thin knives. I think that the plunge line is to reduce the amount of grinding and filing. While keeping a nice "strong" handle area...

One thing that I credit you with, from over two years ago, is my understanding that most knives do not need to be so thick. I truly think that some blades are thick merely because you cannot charge as much without the manly "heft" arrrrgh...unless it's a kitchen knife.That's different.lol...

The skinning knife I built is 1/16 thick O-1...cuts like a dream. No plunge line.

The thicker the blade the more like a wedge for splitting logs....

Just my opinion...an' I got lots of 'em...lol.
 
Smallshop said:
The skinning knife I built is 1/16 thick O-1...cuts like a dream. No plunge line. .
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just for fun, try some of this https://www.ebay.com/itm/FMP-1-32-X...726849?hash=item3cc962b441:g:MUIAAOSwEH9ZaPFF and see what thin can do. some folks will roll their eyes at using 1/32" material until they measure the spine of commercial paring and utility knives. i think we forget we are making tools to be used and need to focus on weight, balance, and comfort in use rather than 'steel of the month' or mirror finish.
 
i make kitchen knives and general use knives. never saw the need for a plunge line, plus it is kind of hard to do on 3/64" or 1/16" stock
 
I ended up finishing the knife just before Christmas and then the woman of my live and mother of my children (aka, My Wife) happily laid claim to it...;)
The handle material is pink ivory or Berchemia zeyheri, a local indigenous species. I used a grey liner to contrast the wood a little. Some of the detail or focus seems to have been lost in the process off making the images smaller to upload it, so the liner and detail of the wood does not show up as clear as I would have liked to show; and I also used my cell phone to take the shots, so I apologise for the less that ideal photography...:oops:

This is how it came out:

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