I got to thinking and it's been quite a while since I have posted something I've made. Part of that is because I'm amazingly slow at it, the other is that most of the time, I don't think what I have is all that great... But, I know that as I've gone down the road, there have been many things I've picked up from and learned from so many others. So, here are a few pictures of 2 knives that are in progress along with a little information on what I'm doing and how I do it. Much of it could be "wrong", but hopefully some of the reasons "why" are at least sound.

These are both 5160, one a skinner/hunter type with just a bit of drop to the point. I wanted to leave plenty of meat for a nice belly for those who prefer that design for skinning. The other is a wharncliff. I've come to appreciate the straight blade edge more as I've received some feedback to the utility of the design for general purposes. These have mostly 100 grit scratches in them at the moment with some stray 60 grit ones in there:

It looks like the plunge on the skinner runs right off the top, but it doesn't. It makes the turn just before the spine. Plus, the finished plunges (after heat treat) will be moved back just past the beginning of the finger "choil" and evened up to match as perfectly as I can on both sides.

One thing that I learned after using a friend's disc sander is how not flat my flat grinds were... I attached a disc to my KMG grinder after installing a longer drive shaft. So, I now have a variable speed disc that operates on the same motor and VFD as my grinder (big thanks to Bing). I rough in everything on the 2x72, then take it to the disc and learn how "unflat" everything is. Note the difference the light shows:

So, I make sure to chase that all the way out so things are as flat as I can get it. This (IMO) is one of the small things that a guy wouldn't otherwise maybe know that can affect the fit and finish (how closely the scales all fit up, etc.). If you don't have a disc, a granite plate, glass, or whatever really flat thing with sand paper on it will help accomplish the same thing. Takes more time, but is worth it.

Speaking of granite, here is something I've gone to doing-marking the blades with a height gauge on my granite plate. I mark the edges with one of those giant red markers (Dykem or whatever works, too), then scribe with the height gauge:

Lay it flat and scribe, then turn it over and scribe again. If you're wanting to get the exact center, do a little math and set accordingly. I don't worry too much about that, I mainly want to see where the general center line is. This is fairly easy and straightforward on a stock removal bar. It gets a bit more complicated on a forged piece, especially with my forging skills... But it REALLY has helped me do better during the grinding process. I wanted to taper these tangs and it has helped me stay a lot closer to center, with an even taper. And FYI, a shop grade granite plate and dial height gauge don't have to be super expensive and they're really worth it. This photo doesn't show it well, but both tangs are tapered (the skinner has more...).

So, I need to finish straightening things up and then I'm off to heat treating them. I just finished up a salt pot and will be using it. Please feel free to ask questions or give input on how to do it better-I'm always up for poaching someone's good ideas <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> .

Jeremy