Garrett Morris Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Hello everyone, This is my first knife ever. I am attempting a santoku style. I think i have it to pretty close to the shape I want it but it's still pretty bumpy from the angle grinder. I don't have a belt grinder, so I was wondering what would be the best way to proceed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlissStreet Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Files. It's slower, but you get a nice flat surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 There has been so many questions and answers on here that if you would search a bit it would save me from a lot of typing and allow me some more shop time,,But you can use files, Look up drawfiling,,,and then coarse abrasives down to finer grits until you get the look you would like.A lot of really nice blades have been made without power tools and posted on this site..Have fun/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Morris Posted September 21, 2011 Author Share Posted September 21, 2011 I apologize if I have wasted anyone's time. I've been cruising around the site for about a week straight. I just didn't find anything that quite answered my question. I will dig deeper next time. Thank you very much for the answers though. I will see how well I can get it done with files. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlissStreet Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 You'll find it easiest to clamp the knife to a scrap piece of wood, supporting the whole blade. Make sure the blade is fully annealed and you'll be surprised at how quickly you can remove stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I have never seen a question or answer on here that I thought was a waste of time. We all started somewhere and some of us started when there was practically no quickly accessible information to learn from. I am almost daily amazed by the willingness of folks on here to fill in blanks for anyone that asks. A couple of shop books you may want to obtain copies of are the $50 knife shop by Wayne Goddard and the complete bladesmith by Jim Hrousalas. If they do not fit you budget try the local library, If they do not have it they may be able to do an inter library loan.Beauty of a shop manual like those is you can quickly access questions in the shop and move on. AS for this site and not finding wot you are looking for try looking back through a ton of the questions and answers that have been posted on the knife forum. Also look at the finishing section. All of the stickies are good enough to try and spend a lot of time with. And have fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John B Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I have never seen a question or answer on here that I thought was a waste of time. We all started somewhere and some of us started when there was practically no quickly accessable informatoin to learn from. I am almost daily amazed by the willingness of folks on here to fill in blanks for anyone that asks. A couple of shop books you may want to obtain copies of are the $50 knife shop by Wayne Goddard and the complete bladesmith by Jim Hrousalas. If they do not fit you budget try the local library, If they do not have it they may be able to do an inter library loan.Beauty of a shop manual like those is you can quickly access questions in the shop and move on. AS for this site and not finding wot you are looking for try looking back through a ton of the questions and answers that have been posted on the knife forum. Also look at the fishing section . All of the stickies aer good enough to try and spend a lot of time with. And have fun I think you would be better looking in the finishing section than goin' fishin', (Sorry Rich, I too often have to re edit) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Carnecchia Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 looking good so far. Much better than my first try. I would recomend a belt sander held upside down in a vise. You can get a 3" by 18" for around $50 new and if you look for one used for much less. I worked like this for around a year and it worked quite well. The biggest limitation seemed to be the lack of belt selection. Files will work too, I'm just not that patient. Keep us posted on the knife, -Justin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 I would flatten that out and establish the bevels with drawfiling, as Rich suggested, then move to abrasive paper or stones. For filing, my usual method has been to clamp the blade to a piece of angle iron in the vise. The problem is that you then have to work around the clamps, and you also have to support the blade so that it doesn't flex during filing. Just recently I tried something new, which I'll call UFMTM("Universal Fixturing Material"). A couple small, properly placed chunks of UFMTMwill secure the blade to the angle iron and give you free access to the entire upper surface, as well as keeping the blade from flexing. A little heat from a torch will break the bond, and scraping/sanding will remove the residue. (Do the heating part outside.) It is a little slower than clamps (takes an hour or so to cure), but I can live with that. I don't work that fast anyway. I probably wouldn't do this during the fine finishing phase, because the residue on the blade can be fairly tenacious and it might be a pain to clean up with fine abrasives. But for coarse filing this seems to be working pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Clamp to the angle iron, then load the vise, this way your C-clamps are more on the underside. You still are forced to move them at times throughout the finishing process. On MattBower's suggestion I wonder if beeswax is strong enough to do the job and be reusable. The stuff is pretty sticky, and I used it to attach sensors in vibrations class...the sensors would not let go easily! Another thought is drill your pin holes now, then use a nut and bolt to hold to the angle iron. Remember that a piece of 2x4 can be used instead of the angle iron. Use what you have available. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Something slightly less permanent would definitely be more convenient. I dunno about beeswax. When I get to hogging off material with draw-filing I use plenty of pressure, and the blade gets pretty warm to the touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Ah, dang, I know what I need! Engraver's pitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 A couple dabs of hot glue Matt, it releases at around 300f and if you can shear it off using a file, sand paper or a sen you MIGHT be using too much downpressure. Garret: Don't give wasting our time a second thought. If we thought answering or talking was a waste of time we wouldn't. Heck, we wouldn't be blacksmiths, bladesmiths, . . . guys. Nothing makes a person examine their own techniques and reasons more thoroughly than having to answer questions. I've learned more from my students than from years of reading and practicing. Anywho, fire away, we LOVE questions and Pics. We REALLY love pics. It's a good attempt at a first blade, all it needs is a little refining and finishing. Properly annealed it'll file faster than you'd think and if you start with a sen (scraper) you'll be able to profile and make your bevels more accurately than you'd think. A sen removes a lot of steel but it's much easier to see the tool's relation to and effect on the work than a sander / grinder. I'm NOT dissing grinders, belt grinders, etc. I have one myself and use it all the time. They're just not a MUST have item. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Something slightly less permanent would definitely be more convenient. I dunno about beeswax. When I get to hogging off material with draw-filing I use plenty of pressure, and the blade gets pretty warm to the touch. That's a good thought, Frosty. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Morris Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Holy cow! Thanks guys for all the advice. I just did some filing on my knife and i'm loving how its going. At first it was pretty tough, but after I got in the groove it started getting easier. I've been working on it for a few hours now (longer than I should have because of all my homework). It's not perfect but let me know what you guys think. Oh, and I ended up using a vise-grip to clamp it down to a piece of particle board on the tang. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Morris Posted September 22, 2011 Author Share Posted September 22, 2011 Sorry, I didn't mean to attach them both twice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBower Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 I think you're well on your way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Looking good. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chichi Posted September 22, 2011 Share Posted September 22, 2011 Frosty, Can you describe your Sen, especially the edge angle. I made a Sen and have not been able to do much with it. I believe I might have too low of an angle on the edge. Do you have a picture you can post? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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