I am working on my first Scandi grind and I'm not sure how to proceed from the initial rough grind. Do I sand the beveled edge differently than the flat of the knife? What direction? Should I leave visible machining marks in the bevel or sand it out to mirror finish? I'm uncertain lol \
Depends on how you want the finish. A couple of things I have done. I have used a water stone. I have also gone to 320 and 400 grit with the belts. The problem I found with the higher grit belts is they are usually J weight and on the flat platen tend to be very "clacky" at the seam. A charged cork belt or conditioning belt works good too and as long as you keep the angle consistent it should look as stellar as it does now. Dan
Hi Dan, Yeah, I don't have one of those nice 2 x 72 grinders yet lol. I just use a Delta 4" x 16" so it's a struggle to find belts sometimes in the higher grits. My question is more about how the finished typical Scandi grind should look I guess. I see from a lot of photos that the machining marks run vertically on the blade and the flats seem finished to a higher polish. Bu then the Mora Scandi grind is highly polished on both the bevel and the flat. Is this just a matter of personal taste? Also, the transition from the bevel to the flat concerns me. If I use sandpaper and a block on the bevel I think it would tend to "roll over" the edge between the flat and the bevel. Sorry for all the questions ... I like to have my ducks in a row before trying something new.
I have to say your blade looks great for using a 4" x 16". I haven't seen belts that short before (or maybe you meant 4" x 36"). Production knives are not as nicely finished as we'd would want them to be. The Mora Classic 1 appears to be coarsely ground, guessing around 220 grit then quickly polished. In fact on many of them there are noticeable vertical streaks in the bevel. These eventually will be polished out with repeated sharpenings against a flat stone. Personally, I would leave the machine grinding where you are at and work the bevels on a stone. Use the slurry to rub the flats and maintain some contrast on the grind line. There is a Ray Mears video where you can see a good technique. Dan
I think I was referring to 16" center to center of each wheel. So I guess it's really a 32" belt? I would like to buy a 1" x 30" grinder because the platen is much easier to work with. Mine is awkward with such a wide belt and I keep having to adjust the belt from one side to the other as I flip the knife to grind the other bevel. Thanks for the advice. Any Ray Mears video is excellent stuff! He's the one that got me interested in bushcraft and then eventually making knives. Thanks Dan!
4" x 36" is the most common in that width. I have been getting a variety of belts for mine from Amazon.ca. The POWERTEC ones are about $7 a belt and the 600 grit silicon carbide makes a pretty good finish on steel. Search for 'POWERTEC 456403' Dan
It really is a matter of personal preference. You can run it on the belt grinder at higher grits, use a stone or even hand sand. You can make all the grind/sand lines go lengthwise down the blade, or keep the direction of the grind lines on the bevels for contrast. You can keep the transistion between the bevels and the flats crisp and defined, or blend them in. It all depends on what sort of look you want for the blade.
