Finishing up
Marked, heat treated, coated, roughly sharpened, and ready for G10 scales.
Chamfering
Small work-in-progress batch of hefty chisel grind utility knives.
A really great tool…
One of those small tools I never really knew about, but now that I do, it’s become one of the most useful things in my shop: a magnet with grip. It allows me to quickly surface grind without burning my finger tips or losing control of the work piece.
Simple Kydex and quench plate presses
I scored a vintage woodworker’s vise on eBay for an amazing deal and converted it into a small Kydex press for smaller blades. It works extremely well for quickly applying even pressure over the work piece.
Pictured above is a vintage US made Dunlap vise (also purchased NOS on eBay for cheap) and 1″ thick aluminum plates that I drilled and tapped for 1/4-20 bolts.
I mounted it a few inches away from my quench tank for rapid transfer. This is one of the more useful shop tools I have; it ensures every blade is perfectly straight out of the quench.
Dedicated 2×72 small wheel grinder (Knifedogs grinder frame)
Short test run video of “U-Weld” 2×72 kit sold by USAKnifemaker. I needed a budget friendly horizontal machine for dedicated small wheel work and this seemed to fit the bill. Tool rest and drive wheel are made by KMG. Motor is a Baldor 3PH VEM3546 controlled by a KB Electronics variable speed drive. For the price I am content with the setup. Grinds are square and tracking is surprisingly good.
Note: it’s not permanently bolted down yet and I need to work on cable management as well as making a mounting bracket for the VFD.
Pictured above: Using machinist blocks to square up my workrest in relation to the small wheel (and the other grinder). Since I’m going from one grinder to another, it’s important the work rests are square (otherwise my choils and finger grooves will look crooked).
![Wired up motor for new dedicated 2×72 [video], Beaumont Metal Works stuff, and ancient Coote grinder still going strong](https://www.berserkrblades.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/429974255_316213698131336_8731671547853969617_n_316213708131335.jpg)
Wired up motor for new dedicated 2×72 [video], Beaumont Metal Works stuff, and ancient Coote grinder still going strong
The new belt grinder chassis should be here tomorrow, giving me a total of three 2×72 grinders. I’m setting this one up as a dedicated small wheel (horizontal) machine, which means I don’t have to switch tool arms as frequently. The horizontal capability also makes contouring finger grooves and choils a lot easier. I got the VFD/motor wired up and everything is ready to go.
Pictured above: I finally got time to setup the Beaumont Metal Works articulating tool rest. It seems like a high quality piece of equipment. The tool-less handles make adjustment super easy. Instead of constantly having to re-adjust my DD tool rest, I got one of these Beaumont setups for dedicated small wheel work. My only con is that it’s not as wide as the DD tool rest.
In addition to the Beaumont tool rest I ordered their disc sanding attachment and mounted it to a spare motor. Although I haven’t quite figured out where it’s going to be permanently placed in my shop. A disc sander is not a tool I use often but it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.
Finally, my 2×72 Coote is still going strong after fourteen years of hard use. I recently made a new work rest for the 10″ contact wheel (see above).
Needle filing
Working on thumb traction grooves. Probably not my favorite part of the process.
Normalization cycle
1084 high carbon steel hunting knife blank being put through a normalization cycle. I’ll do this a couple times to relieve the stresses of grinding and to refine grain structure. I also place a few pieces of scrap steel into the kiln which I’ll use to quickly heat up the quench tank.