If you dont have a FVB....

[Sam Sloane]

Guys,

I have 1 knife someone wants done......Its basically a Cleaver.....but it is too wide to use with the knife jig, and I dont have a FVB....

What are your down and dirty approaches to doing a 1 off knife like this?

Thanks

Sam

[Ken S]

Very practical question, Sam.

You can rest the cleaver on the support bar. Keep it in close. A dry run would help.

You can rest the cleaver on a Tormek platform jig of a "Herman's Homemade Small Platform". Either will work, although you will need to slide the jig (reposition it) with the larger platform jig. Having to reposition the jig makes the process a little slower, but with one cleaver, what's the risk?

A Tormek US-430 universal support will let you hold the cleaver in your SVM-45. The vertical legs are 50 mm taller than the standard US-105. It works very well, but costs $100 US. My practical side thinks that's a lot of money for one cleaver.

My suggestion would be to purchase a "practice" cleaver. Go for reasonable price and quality. Grade your grinding wheel fine and try your support bar. Don't expect perfection the first try. That's the purpose of having your own practice cleaver.

Feel free to try a platform or small platform if you have them.

Enjoy the challenge and keep us posted!

Ken

[cbwx34]

Guys,

I have 1 knife someone wants done......Its basically a Cleaver.....but it is too wide to use with the knife jig, and I dont have a FVB....

What are your down and dirty approaches to doing a 1 off knife like this?

Thanks

Sam

So here's an idea I tried this morning... that actually worked pretty well.  I took the Stop collar off the knife jig, flipped it around, and just used it to "hold" a cleaver against the USB.  I pinched it I guess you could say, using my thumb to hold it against the USB, and my finger pushing down on the spine of the knife.  I was able to put a 20° edge on it without any problem...



... if you try it, check everything with the wheel off... make a few light test passes, and see if it'll work for you.  Then, go slow, light passes, check often.  Then freehand the burr off on the leather wheel.

You did say "down and dirty"!!   YMMV, and be careful!  (If nothing else, maybe it'll spark another idea...).   

[Sam Sloane]

Thank you both for the replies!

I took the "fixed" platform from the Scissor Jig, and clamped it directly on the blade, and used the rounded portion of that to "ride" behind the bar.....ground the one side, then reversed it onto the other side of the blade, and ground the 2nd side....

With such a small arm length, the bar of the support was just above the wheel, so it was a little tedious, but for a one off, it was the best solution I had at my fingertips....