knife magnet

[snowblade]

anybody use a magnet to hold their steel while grinding flat and things like that? do they work?my fingers are taking a beating trying to grind flat. any suggestions would be helpful. thanks,jeri

[fitzo]

Rade Hawkins sells the strongest magnet I've seen for its size for holding blades to grind:

http://www.radehawkinscustomknives.com/RH_Mainframe.htm

Give him a call. I think they cost $25 or so but they're worth every penny.

[Ray Rogers]

Some people do but I don't although I tried one briefly. I like bare hands better because I get better control and I can tell when the blade is heating up. With practice you learn to keep your fingers off the belt most of the time. I make some very small folder blades and some large thin flat ground blades as well as thick blades. Flat grind or hollow, large or small, just pick it up and start grinding.

Let us know how that magnet works out for you....

[fitzo]

I never have used either a magnet or workrest for grinding bevels. I agree with you for that task, Ray. I do find they have a place when tapering tangs or flattening stock/removing mill scale on my 6x48.

[Ray Rogers]

I don't do those tasks on my 6x48 but if I did, and considering I have a 26 grit belt on my 6x68, I believe I'd use a magnet too .......

[Tom Militano]

I use a magnet when I'm removing mill scale, but I can't grind a blade using one. I can't feel what I'm doing and I've screwed up more than one blade using one. I guess I'll just have to live with the sore, burned fingers.

[Rocket_Jason]

I use magnets when tapering tangs, but that's it. I made a small wood block and recessed 3 small magnets into it. The block has a 1/16" lip at the bottom that the butt of the tang rests on and the magents hold the blade to the wood. It is a great help.

You need to be sure not to get a magnet that is too strong, or it will pull on the platten. I did that once and it pulled the magnet and blade right out of hand. Scared the devil outta me.

[DiamondG Knives]

I dont use one grinding blades either, but they are sure handy grinding off mill scale from the precut pieces I get from Kelly Cupples for damascus!!!

I picked up one of the bar magnets from HF for $4.99 works like a champ!

I have found myself using a push stick with a slight ledge in it when Im doing my initial grinds, just holds the botoom of the piece and allows you to apply more pressure on the courser grits. But once past a 220 I go to hand only. I cant get a good feel for what Im doing otherwise. Fingers get calloused after a while so its no big deal. Thats usually the part I hate after getting home from an outage, all my callouses are gone, and I have to burn the ol digits a while before they toughen back up!!!

God Bless
Mike

[cdel]

I use a magnet for flat grinding. I have found that i can get a more consistent grind and I dont have nearly as many dips and gouges in the final grind. The magnet I use is from an old computer hard drive. The hard drive has two magnets that are fairly easy to remove and they even come with hole predrilled so all you have to do is screw them to a piece of wood and you're ready. Oh a warning these magnets are extremely strong, in fact I had to leave mine laying next to my grinder for a while to build up a covering of metal dust so I didn't have to pry the blade off of the magnet when I was through grinding.

[Jason Cutter]

I too prefer to grind with the blade hand held. More control and more feel for avoiding excessive temperatures. However, magnets are great for thin blades that would jump all over the place and for times where the shape / size of the knife doesn't allow you to place your hands and fingers in a safe position. I posted these pics of a simple-to assemble multi-purpose magnet system for a range of grinding applications. Its on this subforum, posted about 2 months ago.

http://www.knifenetwork.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=28239

Hope it helps. Jason.

[Andries Olivier]

Thanx for the magnetpics. I've never used any magnets before, but some of these will surely be helpfull for those thin and slender fillet blades. I normally grind blade bevels freehand but find that the tips of slender blades tend to bend away from the contact wheel. I grind flats and tapers by using the cork from a winebottle as pushstick. It grips rather well to the steel and if its wet one can see when the steel is getting hot as soon as it starts steaming. The cork dont get hot at all and is a real fingersaver. It's also inexpensive as long as you dont use it as an excuse for excessive wine consumption !!!

[Drac]

I plan to start using a magnet to flatten small pieces. Called Rade, the magnets are $12.50 + shipping.

Jim

[tmiller5087]

I just bought ten rare earth magnets from e bay....haven't got them yet. But when I do, i could send you one. think i spent ten bucks for them. they are rectangular and supose to be very strong. I figure if you bury them deep enough in a block of wood with a piece of flat steel fastened to it One could fashon a nice holder.