Thread: First kind of attempt...

After heat treat, the razor will be as hard or harder than a file...so filing is out of the question. The blade should be "finished" except for the hollow. It's all grinding from there and if you get the steel too hot (hotter than you can handle with your bare hands, you can ruin the heat treatment. Keep your fingers close to the work happening at the blade unless you are using a water grinder. With the water grinder, the blade never even gets warm to the touch. Below is the picture of my grinder that has made 6 blades, leaving most of the hollowing to be done after HT. A mistake I have made is that I have gotten the steel too thin before heat treatment and it became wavy or "potato chipped". Talk to the person who is doing the heat treating and see what they recommend as a minimum thickness and go from there.

I haven't used a grinder so far, just files. I'm not far from finishing but don't want to buy a grinder just to finish it after the HT. So I was wondering if Mike's suggestion would work after HT? Maybe I do need a grinder to finish it? Sorry if these questions seem stupid. Thanks for the replies!

And I left the edge at about 2mm thick.

Originally Posted by Darren T

I'm not far from finishing but don't want to buy a grinder just to finish it after the HT. So I was wondering if Mike's suggestion would work after HT?

Maybe I do need a grinder to finish it?

Sorry if these questions seem stupid.

Thanks for the replies!

If MikeBlue has made a suggestion, go with it and don't second guess it. That man is a encyclopedia of knowledge.

I'm not sure where you are with the razor, but to hollow the razor you will need a way to grind the hollow. Files will not work after heat treatment. My way is a cheap way as I don't have one of those nice belt grinders.

No questions is stupid...only the one not asked.

Welcome...

It's looking really good so far! You've got a nice thing going there. Can't wait to see the finished result.

I am thinking of buying a bench grinder. I seen one the other day and I was tempted They are pretty cheap, but are they safe to use?

Thanks for the comment Catrentshaving, appreciate it.

Just a suggestion based on my limited experience.....

1. Taper and fully finish/polish the tang and the spine before heat treating. They are a bear to do after heat treating.

2. Hollow out the blade, by whatever means, until the edge is somewhere between 1/16"- 1/8" thick. This will reduce the chance of a "wavy" edge after heat treating.

3. Check the evenness of your grinding by honing the blade to see where the bevels are thin or fat. Do this before heat treating.

Hope this helps,

Originally Posted by randydance062449

Just a suggestion based on my limited experience.....

1. Taper and fully finish/polish the tang and the spine before heat treating. They are a bear to do after heat treating.

2. Hollow out the blade, by whatever means, until the edge is somewhere between 1/16"- 1/8" thick. This will reduce the chance of a "wavy" edge after heat treating.

3. Check the evenness of your grinding by honing the blade to see where the bevels are thin or fat. Do this before heat treating.

Hope this helps,

It does help, especially number 3..thanks Randy.

Originally Posted by Darren T

I am thinking of buying a bench grinder. I seen one the other day and I was tempted They are pretty cheap, but are they safe to use?

Darren,
I to am from the UK and the bench grinders you refer to are fine to hollow out the blade before ht, keep an eye on the thickness of the edge. To be on the safe side I'd go to about the thickness of a pound coin, maybe a little less. Also even out the edge regularly during the grinding on a coarse hone to see where the bevel is thick, this will indicate where you need to remove more steel.
These grinders are typically to fast to hollow finish after ht, as the edge gets thin it will pick up a lot of friction heat and potentially cause the edge to lose it's temper. If the steel goes a light straw (brown) colour you may get away with it the slightly softer edge depending on your temper. If it goes blue, sorry mate you have shit it. I know it is in theory possible to do this on a bench grinder cos I've seen some trippy stuff skilled toolmakers do where I work on bench grinders.
Bob Allman has recomended a wrist band soaked in ice water to heat sink the back of the blade during the final grind, I'm not sure if this would work on a bench grinder with RPM greater than 1800, Im sure a few have tried.
I've pondered this and the only solution I'm comfortable with is to buy or build a belt grinder with a means of varying the speed of the belt.
Feel free to PM me or call if you would like to chat.

Admire the attitude
Good luck
Joey

Darren T.

Stay at it and don't get to frustrated. I envy guys like you. I work in a machine shop and have for 20 plus years and in a tool and die shop for a good while, I have only just decided to make a blade. Well... I decided to make a blade some many years ago. I have only just started because I was always worried it would not be Ummm... Perfect. I have made machine knives for different types of machinery and shardened knives up to 100 inches, but only just recently decided to have a go at it. I have a dirk and a fixed straight in process now.

So, stay at it. Oh yeah a bench grinder is not that dangerous if you understand that it will put out an eye or eat a finger in less than a heartbeat. You determain how safe the machine is.

Go be safe. Go slow and go find a smith in your area, ask if you can watch and learn.

Deckard those are some good sugestions.

Jeff