Leaf Spring Knife- Ground or pound

[cjweaver13]

Ok so I made a knife blank out if 1/4" OCS (old Chevy spring). The thickness currently is a bear. As a newbie, what is the easiest, most aggressive way to thin it out for further profiling for bevels. Options I currently have at my disposal are: forge anvil and 3lb hammer, 1x30 belt grinder with various grits, 4" angle grinder, bastard files, and bench grinder. 

My goal is to go the fastest route. If that means belt grinder I'm prepared to go through belts at an alarming rate for that size grinder, but before I needlessly kill belts, or ruin straightness hammering hot metal, I wanted an expert opinion or 10. Thanks! 

PS. You have full permission to laugh at my first blank. Used my angle grinder and cutting wheel to do a rough chop off. Killed 4 disks not realizing it was somewhat hardened and I should have just cut off a length and annealed it first. Lesson learned 

 

[ThomasPowers]

Fastest way for me would be heat and hammer; I'm glad to know that you don't care if you destroy it as long as it's the fastest method.  Forging knife grade steels works best when you have substantial practice forging mild steels already.

I'd suggest angle grinder with abrasive paper disks over a rubber backer till you get close and then draw filing and then hand sanding; No definitely NOT the fastest but perhaps the way to get the best outcome...

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

1/4" isn't that bad. To preserve the shape use the angle grinder to rough it after you have marked your centerline of the stock (thickness wise) so you don't get a wavy edge. Then smooth it out with the belt grinder.

 

[Buzzkill]

I'm assuming that you've annealed it by this point or will before you attempt any more grinding/filing.  If you are a beginner then grinding is going to be faster than forging.  Setting good bevels (centered, even, and uniform thickness) by  forging takes some practice.  Unless your hammer control is good you will also likely have a fair amount of hammer marks to grind out anyway. I've seen a couple relatively simple jigs for keeping a consistent angle with an angle grinder that you may want to look into.  Otherwise,  do the heavy "hogging" with whichever method you can remove steel the fastest to get in the ballpark, then use your belt grinder or files to take it the rest of the way to pre-quench dimensions.   You want to leave some extra metal for post heat treat cleanup and finishing, but not too much because the hardened steel will eat up your abrasives faster and it will take more time to remove the excess.

[sfeile]

Mine may not be the approved way or the best way, but I'll offer a suggestion as to how I would do it with little experience.

First, put it in the fire and anneal it. Get it softened up and as straight as you can on the anvil. You said belts, so I'm assuming you have a belt grinder. Use the flat platten and get the sides flat and clean. Check your thickness as you go and make sure to keep it consistent.

Then take some dykem and paint where you want to make your plunge grind and paint the cutting edge. If you don't have dykem, use a sharpie and color it all in for the same effect. Now scribe your plunge lines and the center of your cutting edge. If you aren't doing a full "V" grind, mark where you want your bevel to stop also.

Then either take your angle grinder or a 36 grit belt and start hogging your material down. Clean up your profile and get your bevel roughed in. Once you get your edge to about a dimes thickness or so and everything pretty much the way you want it. Then while it's still soft, drill your pin holes for the scales.

Heat treat and temper it, then do your finish work.

It is quicker to hammer in the bevel, but if you don't have a lot of practice at it, you can get off centered very easily or have a bad strike leave a deep hammer mark that won't come out.