Knife making help

[snarble]

Hello Everyone,

I am planning to make a knife from 3mm 01 Tool Steel with a Scandinavian grind, I have some questions about the angle of the bevel.

What angle would some of you recommend?

I have heard some good things about a 23 degree angle, is this 23 degrees on each side or 23 degrees combined? How would I find this or should I just approximate?

Or how much should I offset the bevel in from the edge of the knife?

Thanks.

 

[Chinkapin]

Machinist have a small adjustable bevel that is very accurate. They are only composed of 2 pieces, so they shouldn't be very expensive. If you don't have something to accurately measure your bevel with it will come out pretty haphazard. If you want it accurate, you got to measure, at least until you learn what 23 degrees, or whatever, looks and "feels" like.

 

[snarble]

There is a few last things I want to learn about.

Is 23 degrees the combined angle of both bevels? Or the angle from half of the thickness of the blade and one bevel?

Is 23 degrees an adequate angle to get and stay sharp as well as cut wood? Better suggestions?

If anyone here has made a knife out of 3mm 01 Tool Steel, how wide should I make the bevel?

Thanks.

 

[jojo]

You can easily make yourself a small adjustable bevel: take the two ends from a hacksaw blade, make them a couple of inches long, or whatever you want, cut the ends off at 45 degrees, grind the teeth a bit and then pop rivet (I used a copper boat nail and rove) them together through the holes,

As to the angle, on 3 mm blades, I measure the flats of the bevel to be between 6 and 7 mm, mostly 6mm. That gives me good sharp tools. 6mm flats give give you a slightly blunter cutting edge than the 7mm but there is not a huge difference in angle between the two.

 

[FGYT]

yes its easiest to mark 2 lines and file between them

this is a pic grind hight and angles on 3 and 4mm thick blades

you can do it with 'Tricky Nometry' but i find it easyier to draw it

ATB

Duncan

 

[snarble]

Thanks everyone, I think I'm going to go with the 7mm bevel width on 3mm steel. So 24 degrees.

 

[elma]

what Jojo said

Great idea with the hacksaw blades

 

[Taffy63]

If you fold a piece of paper in half and half again that will give you a 90 degree angle. If you then fold it diagonally you get 45 degrees and in half again a 22.5 degree angle. This will give you a close enough guide if you don't have a protractor with you.

 

[Indoorsout]

I'm interested in this also - does anyone have a plan for a homemade jig for filing the bevels?

 

[FGYT]

no but i can get a photo of the one i made a week or so ago

here you go

made from 4" x 2" channel M12 stud bar and a bit of Aly box section

i need to weld the bar to the file


there are several on the net


SWC has one if you look in his workshop tour pics
http://swc-handmade-knives.com/

ATB

Duncan

 

[tom miller]

I mark the lines out with a pair of oddlegs and then use a protractor to check the angle. No jig to file the bevels though, all done by hand and eye.

 

[Indoorsout]

Thanks FGYT that helps a lot. Neat design too.

Tom, if I tried filing the bevels by hand it's look like ripples on a lake by the time I'd done I'm sure and the Gods only know what the angle would be

 

[snarble]

Hello,

I've got another question. When heating the knife up to 800C for hardening, do you need to use a forge? or would a fire work? If you need to use a forge anyone got a simple one I could make at home?

Thanks.