Grinding Bevels using a Mill?

Splat

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I love knives and have always wanted to make my own. When I tried sharpening via a belt sander with appropriate belts it was pretty bad, even after numerous attempts. Being able to mill the primaries would be sweet for me. I know there was a book written about grinding bevels using a mill but I don't have it. Has anyone here tried or done this on their mill?
 
I saw a clip on Youtube how a man made two opposing belt grinders. The outside wheels were butted together with just enough clearance for the belts to rotate. He ground both hollows in around 3 minutes, both symetrical. It looked pretty fool proof. If I knew how to post a link I would find it for you.
 
This one?

[video=youtube_share;0GVB0qkRF1c]http://youtu.be/0GVB0qkRF1c[/video]
 
Have you seen Knifemaking Tuesday?

http://www.youtube.com/user/JohnGrimsmo?feature=g-user-lik

This guy has documented his progress in learning to be a knifemaker. All of his stuff is CNC. Not sure if you have CNC capabilities or not. On a manual machine it would probably be possible for a flat grind on a sheeps foot, or wharncliffe by making a jig, and clamping the blank at an angle. I don't know how you would do it for a clip point or other more organic shapes. You could probably do a tanto if you re-clamped.

The first knife I made (I have made a total of 2, so no expert here ;) ) was a carving knife for my girlfriend. I ground the bevels on a bench grinder, and finished them on a bench stone. Not something I recommend, but it worked. The second was a folder. Bevels were cut by CNC, and then tooling marks were polished out by wet sanding with silicon carbide paper. Both blades were wharncliffes which have really easy geometry. I also like the looks of them.

There are dozens of ways to make a knife; not sure if you have already discovered this, but youtube is filled with tutorials, and demonstrations of people showing their own take on it.
 
Oh man I'd be a leery about getting my hand(s) that close to two grinders like that. :yikes:

DMS, I don't have a CNC setup and was thinking more along the lines of flatgrinding on the mill.

I found the guy I was talking about. Don Robinson. He wrote a book titled "How to Make a Tactical Knife Using Your Milling Machine". I think he's on the Bladeforums which I haven't visited in a while. I know this is sacrilege to some but I'm pretty much done buying knives for a while. I've got about 10, a mixed bag of folders and fixed, and these are the ones that have made it thru my whittling-down process. Still, it's been a dream to make my own knife.
 
Knifemaking can be as complicated or easy as you make it. You can make a knife with a file, a handheld grinder, a bench grinder, belt grinder, or as you say a milling machine. I do all my knifemaking freehand, either hollowground or flat ground on a 2x72 inch belt grinder. I have used my milling machine to drill liners and pivot holes in some of my folders, but the blades are all done freehand on the belt grinder. I think that unless you are doing multiples of one pattern the tooling set up involved in the grinding of bevels on the mill would just be too time comsuming for a one knife project.

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Super thin straight razors are made by having 2 grinding wheels arranged like the double belt grinder pictured above.

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Super thin straight razors are made by having 2 grinding wheels arranged like the double belt grinder pictured above.
 
When I was teaching at the local community college we had a class project where we made "folding letter openers." Couldn't call them knives. The 3rd semester guys built a multi station fixture for the CNC mill. When we started 4th Semester, the ones that were left programmed the parts and ran it to produce the item. We used brass for everything except the blade and spring which were steel. The bevel on the blade was cut with an angle mill that ran down one side and then the other. As it was CNC the curve was no problem.

I have one of the final products and the fixture. If anyone is interested I could dig them out and post a couple of photos. I may even have the CAD drawings and program but that is not guaranteed.
 
I made a small froe a few years back. I first milled a step in a piece of aluminum, on which I could clamp the blade at the appropriate angle, about 15° IIRC (a froe has a much blunter taper than a knife). I milled the bevels on both sides that way, and then touched up the edge on a grinder.
 
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