I'm finding that occasionally I get the bevel slanting(not parellel to edge) one way on one side aslanting the opposite way on the other side. Anyone know why.
Hi Dan. No, usually I'm using a jig I built and sliding across the work table. Each time I turn the blade to the other side I have to mechanically loosen the jig to flip it. I do my best to get the same horizontal position and place it as low as possible to the work table.
Forgot to mention, yes I use a 2" belt. Could be I never set up my belt grinder properly but it's very solid so I just assumed no adjustment was necessary.
Are you thinking that you are not getting the same angle when you flip the knife? When we’re talking bevel degrees, we’re not talking much right. For example, let’s say you’re doing a full flat grind on a 1/8 th thick, 2” wide chef knife, your angle is about 1.8°. If your jig is moving only slightly your bevels will be different. Not saying that’s wrong, free handing your bevels causes slight variations, but it doesn’t stop the knife performing as intended. And hard to see a bevel off by a degree. Now plunge lines you can notice right away. Or was that what you meant? Plunge lines are off? Plunges take a long time to get right, and I am afraid a jig isn’t a perfect solution. Take my platen for instance, overhanging the belt on the right side of the platen gives me a nice swooping, curved plunge line. Overhanging the belt on the left side, and I’ve measure with callipers that the overhand is identical, I get a hard, sharp plunge line. My platen is either not square or the overhang is varying as the machine runs the belt. My fix? I file in my plunges using the Gough knife filing jig (easily found on YouTube, if you haven’t seen it). I don’t file bevels on it anymore, I have a 2x72, but I do hand file my plunges. Sorry if I misunderstood by the way. Cheers!
Hey Griff, no it is the bevels but I also got inconsistency of my plunge lines. Right now since I'm doing hunting type knives I can put up with and even like some of the little imperfections but a sloping bevel just looks like a bad job. Luckily it's been only about 1 in 10 knives. Thanks for your responce.
Hey Griff. Is it difficult for you to sand out the filemarks after fixing up the bevels? I like the Gough jig a lot but I don't like sanding nearly as much as other knife makers seem to : )
Hey Todd, after the plunges are filed in I am fine to go to the grinder. The platen issue is easier to control if the plunges are already filed in, you just work from the tip of the blade back and gently feather the belt into them. It’s plunges from scratch on the new flat platen I have a problem with as I think there’s a tracking issue I have to work on, or the platen is totally out of whack. I freehand hollow grind with no issues on my 10inch wheel. For the plunges I use a 5/32 or 7/72 chainsaw file and set the angle via @dancom ’s handy dandy bevel calculator! Probably not perfect to some, but for me it’s a great improvement!
Ah.... so the plunges go first... that actually makes a lot of sense. I still can freehand grind (not good enough and don't make enough knives to practice enough) but I see no reason why it wouldn't work with a jig. Thanks Griff
