O.k. grinding help needed

A.W.Stovall

A.W.Stovall

Well-Known Member
Anthony's Knife pics 094.jpgAnthony's Knife pics 092.jpgAnthony's Knife pics 091.jpgI can do smaller blades pretty good. But everytime I try to do a larger blade I have a heck of a time matching up both sides what is it I am doing to get such different results. I do grind off of a rest and I did build a new one and this is the first knife I have done but it should have been better because this rest is bigger?
Thanks Anthony
 
Obvioulsy I want both sides to look like the one on the far right? I still have plenty of room to fix it I'm just confused to what I am doing wrong?
Anthony
 
The reason your results are different is that one of your hands is smarter than the other ( a friend told me once that you never know how stupid your left hand is until you go to the bathroom with your right hand in a cast ) anyway it takes a lot of practice to train both hands to work the same. This may sound crazy but what I do at this point is remove my rest, install a finer belt, take a deep breath, and fix it free hand by following the grind I have already established. You can feel the grind that is there and just slightly change your angles to correct the grind. Even if you fail you will be better at the next one. Roy
 
Everyone has a dominant eye and a dominant hand. It will be easier to grind going one way than it is going the other way. One thing I learned was to grind my weak side first. It is easier to match what you did there on strong side. It just takes practice get equally good going either way.

I always grind freehand. One trick Gil Hibben taught me was to imagine a laser line going across the wheel and use that imagainary line as your guide as you grind. It works. Concentrate on keeping the blade straight and steady going across the wheel.

Another thing I had to learn was to ease up and not try to hog too much metal out in one pass. Get your grind established in the middle and then work down to the edge and up to your upper grind line.
 
Some excellent advice. Everyone has problems with this at first. I don't use a rest, ever, so I can't help you with that. Using a finer belt will help you troubleshoot the problem more safely. The pic suggests slightly inconsistent angles and unsteady pressure/hand placement. Go slowly with the grinder and practice your motions with a finer belt, making sure to keep consistent/uniform angles and hand pressure where needed, when walking the line up. Don't be afraid to make passes without walking the line up, just to true it all up. For myself I've noticed that feeling the uniformity of the sweeping pass is key; the pressure on the platen in accordance with uniform hand placement and consistent angles. If your form when grinding isn't uniform, then your lines won't be uniform either. Your smaller blades are easier to keep uniform because there is less real estate for your hand to travel and thus less opportunities to break the line.
 
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It may help to alternate between edge-up and edge-down, and grind from the same side of the machine. I write and draw left-handed but other than that I'm right-hand-dominant... but left-eye dominant, so this helps me. (I know, I'm weird, you should see me try to aim a pistol.)

It may also help to take just one or two passes off each side, rather than getting one side nearly done then switching to the other.

Keeping your elbows touched to your sides and swaying your body makes it easier to be steady. I keep my fingertips on the blade itself to help me judge the pressure/angle against the platen like J. Rosa talked about.

Mainly I think it's just practice.
 
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Gil told me the same thing as Mike about the imaginary line on the wheel. Keep your edge on the imaginary line and the rest is steady speed pressure and the angle in which you roll the blade into the wheel. Regardless of the others always keep that cutting edge on the imaginary line.

Gil Hibben offers a video called the Rough Grind. It would be very helpful to many just learning and hasn't had the pleasure of learning from a master first hand. Gil is THE master of freehand grinding, his style allows him the flexibility to do all the intricate grinds that you see on his fantasy knives.
 
Anthony what I do is I use my platten rest and keep close eye on my angles. When I get wild like your one blade there I take off the rest and correct it freehand. Where you hold your blade on the contact wheel will also have alot to do with your grinding lines. I smooth out the wiggles by walking the blade from dead centre to the upper portion of the contact wheel . This will straighten them out. Another thing is to use a fresh belt soon as your main depth grind is done move on I start at 60 and only a couple passes lightly will pretty much be enough then 120 ,220 and then I move to structured abrasive belts and go up to 500 before HT. kellyw
 
Two other things may be contributing to this: Worn belts and using a Belt that you have worn a groove in by doing profiles on it... I keep my profile belts separate from my grinding belts.
Worn out belts make you push harder IE: Less control. Try a new belt, go slow and steady. BE Elvis and swivel your hips!
 
I agree with M.Carter! Do your weak side first. It will be easier to match up!
Alway great advice on here. If you cant find your answers on knifedogs! I dont know! where else you would look!
 
a couple people made the comment imaginary laser beam on the contact wheel! ? why imaginary, get yourself a laser level pointer on a tripod off to the side and grind away...For me since my shakin (PD) got worse I developed a rail system where your plunge line stop guide thingy once clamped to the blade slides across the contact wheel on a piece of angle iron where you can adjust for any size wheel any aproach angle and any pitch. you can basically drop your blade onto the wheel the same way in the same place every time. I'm sure some of you guys think anything but freehand is cheating, but I say " you do what you gotta do to get the job done" and rather than giving up knifemaking, I'll ride the rail !
 
One thing that may help is to use a marker to draw where you want you grind lines. Then, establish your plunge lines. I work off 1/3 to 1/2 of the wheel most of the time. That being the side of the wheel closest to the plunge. Take nice full passes with even pressure and speed. If you have a variable speed controller slow it down to about 35%. Try to lose the work rest, it will only restrict you. The first few will be challenging, but after that you'll never look back. Just keep you elbows tucked it. Alos the main thing is practice, pracice, practice.
-John
 
Anthony,

Give me a call and come over. We will figure it out. I bet we can get this squared away in a short time.


I do agree and have said many times, to do the weak hand grinding first.

Remember to look at the sparks when grinding, they tell you if you get out of the hollow or if you are grinding unevenly.
 
Inow you would Bob , I just get so mad when trying to do a really good grind and mess it up. My schedule is very busy for a few weeks , maybe I can make it over.
 
I have a tendency to do this on the opposite side. I am actually over-compensating for a tendency to grind too deep at the plunge. This is because the hand that is holding the knife has more leverage to put pressure against the belt at the ricasso end than at the tip. If this is the case you just have to conciously and carefuly start working deeper into the plunge with the corner if the platen/contact wheel until you get the grind line straight.
This problem can also be caused by domed or unevenly worn belts or a platen that is not flat. If you tend to work only on one small part of the platen, try moving to a different spot and see if anything changes.
 
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Mike Carter said:
Everyone has a dominant eye and a dominant hand. It will be easier to grind going one way than it is going the other way. One thing I learned was to grind my weak side first. It is easier to match what you did there on strong side. It just takes practice get equally good going either way.

I always grind freehand. One trick Gil Hibben taught me was to imagine a laser line going across the wheel and use that imagainary line as your guide as you grind. It works. Concentrate on keeping the blade straight and steady going across the wheel.

Another thing I had to learn was to ease up and not try to hog too much metal out in one pass. Get your grind established in the middle and then work down to the edge and up to your upper grind line.
Click to expand...

That's what I had to do to train both my hands, going light with grinding. I'm a lefty and it seems to take forever to use the other side for equal work. All shop equipment seems to be made for right handed people, too.
Yep on the imagined lazer line, too. That's a better way to describe it than I could imagine.
 
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