Knife making advise needed stuck after heat treatment!

[warnerbot]

Hello forumers.

My first knife project, a pretty standard O1 woodlore clone which I am hand grinding with basic files in my crummy one bedroom London flat (no workshop here!), has stumped for the first time.

I have had it heat treated and am ready to finish the bevel off and fit the scales. I left about 0.5mm of stock on the edge, so it wasn't too fragile during heat treatment. Now I've gone to carry on, it's a lot harder to file than I anticipated! I went at it for a good half hour an removed very little!

Any tips on what sort of file I can use to finish her off? Surely I don't need any sort of powered grinder having come this far without electricity?

THANKS.

 

[Dave Budd]

The only files hard enough to cut that will be some specialist ones that Vallorbe do, but they are £30+ a piece http://www.mehr-als-werkzeug.de/pro...Valtitan-Pillar-Files-Cut-0-Length-200-mm.htm

Your best bet if you can't or don't want to use a grinder is either coarse wet and dry (80 or 120grit) or a coarse diamond hone and a lot of elbow grease and patience

 

[HillBill]

Diamond files will remove the material also.

It would likely work out cheaper to send it to a maker to whip off that last little bit of the bevel on a belt grinder.

 

[FGYT]

wet n Dry wrapped round the files 120 gt as a starter

 

[alrob]

Buy one of them diamond blocks with 4 grits at lidl or aldi,s usually about £8 ,ideal for this job ,keep them wet and don't push too hard let the diamonds do the work.It takes time be patient you will get there make sure you keep bevels flat.when you get near the finish eventually switch to finer wet and dry on a flat plate.Nice knife by the way ,post the finished knife

 

[ged]

If there's as muchas half a millimetre to remove then I'd take it to someone who has something like a Tormek water-cooled grinder. It's looking great, and you don't want to overheat it now you've got this far!

 

[HillBill]

I have a Tormek, but unless you want a hollow grind then i wouldn't use it. A normal belt grinder is more than upto the Job.

 

[warnerbot]

Thanks everyone. I spent a little while working at it with some 120 grit on a stick today and made some progress, but it is really very slow. Good things come to those who wait and finally all that repetitive masturbation action has come in handy. back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

I ain't gonna use a machine on it, and I'm certainly not going to outsource anything!

Three weeks to Alaska so need to get a move on!

Thanks again guys for the advice.