Knife grinding advice needed..?

[warnerbot]

Hi Guys,

just to introduce myself briefly (newby) my names Nick. I love carpentry and working with green wood, I am into carving (scandi style mostly) and most outdoor pursuits. Mainly I carve things with my Svante Djarv carving knives, but I also spend time in the shop doing little bits of joinery and carpentry making.

Basically I really want to have a go at making a knife, I figured I might start with a culinery knife, as I do a lot of cooking and they tend to avoid complicated bevels (I actually think the geometry of culinery knives is incredibly complex, but I think its an easier start than say, a bushcraft knife)

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations as to a grinding solution for the initial grinds, I mean once I've taking cut my (rough) blank from the sheet what kind of machine would be good for grinding it to a dead shape, and then for grinding the profile in once its been tempered?

any help would be appreciated guys!


Nick

 

[Gill]

Hi Nick , u can keep it simple at first and do it with files ,this is how i started! You can get very good clean results this way and you will be surprised how quick it is .But if you want a grinder/linisher to do the odd knife there are a few options have a look here.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLARKE-BE...Home_Garden_PowerTools_SM&hash=item19c6c88099
http://www.britishblades.com/forums...Filing-Jig-My-Way-amp-W.I.P!&highlight=Filing

 

[Longstrider]

If you only want to make one or two knives then it's perhaps best to make them by hand with files and something like a typical bench grinder or angle grinder as this will keep expenditure to a minimum. Use the grinders for doing the heavy removal of metal to produce your profile, then the files and wet-n-dry to neaten the profile and to create the bevels.
Make sure to start with the right ingredients A piece or two of 01 tool steel (available from Cromwells as 'Ground flat stock') will make your life a whoe lot easier and it will be steel that you can heat treat. No good making the blade out of any old steel.
As a worker of wood, making the scales for a full tang knife shouldn't pose you too many problems.

You will probably find it much easier to produce a Scandi ground full tang blade than any other type. Kitchen knives tend to be much thinner and far more difficult to make for a beginner.

British Blades Forum might prove to be a very useful resource for information for you. (and also prove to be the ruination of your wallet )