keep grinding the tip off...

[Jay-Z]

ok, this has to be a common problem I would think, EVERY time I try to grind my first bevel, main bevel I am grinding off the tip. I am working with mystery steel just practicing as I don't want to ruin the stainless I have but 3 times now I have ground off the tip. I am using a 1x30 grinder. Any Ideas as to what I am doing wrong? Thanks in advance of any answers..

[AUBE]

Originally Posted by Jay-Z

Any Ideas as to what I am doing wrong?

You're grinding the tip too much.

But seriously... the tip is the part of the blade that has the smallest area to grind...so less time and pressure are required in that area. It is also often the first spot to overheat so you'll have to be careful post heat treat.

What I tend to do is grind a very small/steep bevel the entire length of the edge to establish the center line and thickness. Then when grinding the bevel back to the desired final angle I will grind most of the blade length, but not the tip. When the blade bevel is almost to its final position I then work on the tip and bring it back to the same angle. If I do the tip at the same time as the blade I also tend to grind it too thin if I'm not paying attention.

[Ray Rogers]

I grind the entire length but as I approach the tip I let up on the pressure. Try this: make one grinding pass exactly as you have been doing from the ricasso to the tip. Does the path get wider right at the tip? If it does , you're doing what most of us do - you're speeding up and pressing down as you finish the run. Don't do that. It just takes practice, the trick is to know what you should be practicing ....

[TexasJack]

The metal in the blade acts as a heat sink - more metal, more sink - but there's not as much metal between the area you're grinding and the top (or end) of the blade when you get to the tip, so the heat builds up very quickly.

Anyone who hasn't burned up a tip hasn't tried to make a knife blade! I think I asked this same question around here some years back.

[Eli Jensen]

I either do the tip first and leave it alone or leave it alone and do it last. Go slow, take your time, cool often.

[metal99]

I'm pretty green so take this with a grain of salt lol. I grind mine from the ricasso to the tip alternating sides each time. I try to keep the cutting edge perpendicular to the belt at all times. So if your knife has a curved cutting edge wich most do, I will kind of rotate the blade as I make a pass to keep the cutting edge square to the belt. I also stop my pass when the tip reaches the centre of the belt. This works well for me and might not for others.

[Jay-Z]

Great Ideas, and again thank You, It helps to know I am not crazy (well...) Ray, I am doing exactly what your talking about, my path is wider at the tip (or whats left of it). I have one more question to ask of you all. Do you generally taper the sides of the blade from the handle forward, It seems most really nice knives I see seem to be tapered from the handle forward and is this what is referred to as knocking off the bark? I hate to sound stupid, but when your new to something, sometimes its an information overload. And again, thank you all..
Jay

[Crex]

It's called distal taper. Cuts down on the bulkiness of a blade, is more esthetically pleasing and in most cases makes the blade lighter and more functional, giving it a little flexibility toward the tip as in a fillet or boning knife and a smoother slicer as in a carving knife - in varying degrees based on intended function. I find it easier to do distal tapering both the blade and tang with a hammer.....but that's just me.
I find blades with spines full thick to within an inch of the tip, somewhat distasteful (unless it's a meat cleaver). Of course there are some exceptions.
Never heard it called knocking off the bark. That phrase usually refers to removing fire scale/oxides from the blade's surface on the bladesmithing end of things.

[Jay-Z]

Thank you C rex, I agree when looking down the spine it did not look right and that is why.

[metal99]

Seems like every drop point I do a flat grind on I get some distal taper. Makes my ht a bit trickier to pull off in the forge.