Flat and Hollow Bevel Grinding Jig - DOWNLOAD THE JIG PLANS

GET THE BEVEL JIG PLANS HERE
http://www.belnapcustomknives.com/

This jig will enable you to do Hollow and Flat bevel grinds with accuracy and repeatability each time. Great product for the beginner or for the professional knifemaker. Allows you to work very fast while maintaining accuracy of your bevels.

Freehand bevel grinding is an art to be sure. However not all knifemakers have the time or interest in developing the art of freehand bevel grinding. Early on in my knifemaking I made the decision to use technology as much as possible to reduce the production cost of my blades without sacrificing performance. To me this method represented the best balance of value for my customer. Spending hours doing something by hand that a CNC machine could do in seconds at 3% the cost is just smart to me. I work very hard to eliminate cost that does not provide real world benefit to my customer.

In keeping with this philosophy of value added cost I designed this bevel grind jig. It greatly reduces the variability of freehand grinding to deliver accurate matching grinds that can be repeated each time and done at far greater speed than typical freehand grinding is capable of. When combined with the blank carrier method and edge down blank grinding this jig takes grinding to a new level of performance than offered by any other jig currently available. By grinding edge down sanding belt life is extended dramatically. Many of the high performance ceramic grit sanding belts such as 3M Cubitron II require high speed and high pressure to fracture the grit and maintain a good cutting edge. It is difficult while freehand grinding to accurately apply sufficient pressure to the belt to fracture the grit and keep it sharp without making a mistake on your bevel. The jig eliminates this concern. With it you are able to put heavy pressure on the belt while maintain positive control of the blank. Thus increasing belt utility, life and decreasing your production time per grind.

When doing the initial grind I set my sander speed at 7200 surface feet per minute and use a 36 grit 3M Cubitron II belt. At this speed and grit the metal flies off of the blank. I currently have a belt that has ground 50 blanks this way and is still going. I attribute this long life to edge down grinding. Prior to doing edge down grinding my best was 19 blanks before all of the grit was stripped off of the belt. Once I get most of the material removed I switch to a 3M Cubitron II in 80 grit to clean up the grind a bit. Then I put on a Tri-Zact 220 grit to finish the bevel for pre-heat treat. Great video by Pop regarding sanding belts and grits    • Sanding Belts for Knife Makers Part II - b...  . When I first started knifemaking I saw tons of makers stating that they get 3-5 knives per belt. Now that I have more experience I know they are wasting money by either selecting the wrong belt, grit or grinding method and adding cost to their knives without adding any additional value of performance.

This jig will not only do hollow and flat grinds but also put the secondary (cutting bevel) on your blade complete with strop using a leather belt on your sander.

If you are ready to unleash the full potential of your belt sander then this is the jig for you.

Available in the following CAD formats: Fusion 360 Archive, Inventor 2016, IGES, SAT, SMT, STEP, DWG, DXF, STL, FBX, SKETCHUP, OBF