Freehand grinding practice

[Rasmus Kristens]

hi everyone

It's not easy/cheap for me to get blade materials, so I was thinking about practising my freehand grinding on 0.2" plywood.

Would that make sense to do this to save some money, or would it be counter productuve because of the major material differences?

I have seen a lot of videos on youtube, but do you have any other ideas for practising?

[Ed Caffrey]

Personally, I feel that practicing grinding on wood simply isn't the same thing as grinding on steel. At the very least I would recommend using mild steel.....it's going to give you a similar "feel" to blade steels, but even that is not the same thing as grinding on a hardened blade.

Honestly, about the only thing grinding on wood will get you is a lot of wood dust.

[dtec1]

agree.....go to hardware store or home depot something like that and buy some mild steel around the same thickness you would use for a knife that is the best bet wood is very different grinding than steel

[Rasmus Kristens]

okay. Sounds like you agreen on this. I will get some mild steel at some point then.

Do all of you grind after HT? What are the pros and cons doin this instead grinding first then HT?

[jimmontg]

Some knifemakers heat treat just the outline, I do not. Depending on the steel alloy determines my choice, but usually I grind my knife to 95% finished before HT, leaving 1mm on the edge. If I'm making a knife from O1 I grind it to an almost finished configuration, but whatever alloy steel I use I finish it to a 220 grit finish before HT. O1 is easy to straighten immediately after HT.

[vombrown]

Rasmus, der skal være nogen i nærheden af dig med gamle gård udstyr eller en bil bjærgning område. Disse er alle gode steder at få praksis stål. Jeg boede i Danmark i et par år. Savklinger var nemme at finde for mig der. praksis på disse og derefter få bedre stål for gode knive

[vombrown]

hvor er du placeret? Jeg har stadig venner der i brancher, der kunne være i stand til at få nogle gode praksis stål for dig.

[dtec1]

I always profile first then heat treat then I go and do all the bevels and finish work

[M&J]

I do similar as Jim mentions. I know some that grind the profile and send off to heat treat. The comment being that because it is harder an oops doesn't ruin the blank as quickly. OTOH, it will use more abrasive belts. YMMV. I like the steel in easy working condition for the plunge and bevel cuts, easier for me to stay in the groove.

[Rasmus Kristens]

Sounds like this is mainly a question about religion :-)
I think i will do the profiling and bevelling first, then HT. I'm used to that.

Thank you all for your comments :-)

@Vombrown. If you just spend a few years, nice Danish :-) I just got a contact with a smith close to me, and he told i could just take whatever scrap pieces i would :-) But thanks for your offer anyways.

[vombrown]

Originally Posted by Rasmus Kristens

Sounds like this is mainly a question about religion :-)
I think i will do the profiling and bevelling first, then HT. I'm used to that.

Thank you all for your comments :-)

@Vombrown. If you just spend a few years, nice Danish :-) I just got a contact with a smith close to me, and he told i could just take whatever scrap pieces i would :-) But thanks for your offer anyways.

I spoke Danish before moving, thank goodness. So it was more immersion for me than anything. Although the inflection in some words got me in trouble a few times in Copenhagen Bar!