Culver Knives

The platten is ¼” x 3” x 12” that has been cut down at the end that fits into the small wheel fork.  The end that fits between the fork is 2 ¼” x 2”.  That area has been milled down on the back side to a thickness of 3/16” to allow it to match the top radius of the ½” wheel.  You will also have to file out the corners of the small wheel fork slightly, so the platen can fit properly.

The angle iron “riser” piece is 2” x 2” angle iron.  My “riser” is welded about 1 3/8” from the end of the platen.  That is the distance (on my machine) that positions the platen to fit under the belt.  You want the belt to lie smoothly on the top of the platen, so position your riser to lift the belt slightly as it runs over the top end of the platen.

The base plate is ¼” x 3” x 5” with two 1” long slots milled into it for the attaching bolts.  I drilled and tapped two ¼” x 20 holes in the top of the small wheel fork to attach the platten.

To attach the platen to the machine; slide it onto the attaching bolts and move it into a position that matches the top of the wheel (I use a straight edge to check) then tighten it down.

The clip grinding platen is 4” X 16” X ¼” steel.  The brackets are made from 3” X 3” X ¼” angle iron.  The arm to attach it to the KMG is 1 ½” X ½” X 10”.

A 3/8” slot is milled in the arm that attaches the fixture to the KMG.  The fixture doesn’t need a long range of motion, so you only need to make two shorter slots centered over the attaching bolt holes. 

The angle iron brackets were clamped together and two holes were drilled of the size required for tapping 3/8 X 16 thread holes.  The two holes in the bracket for the platen were drilled out to 3/8”, and the holes in the bracket for the attachment arm were tapped with 3/8 X 16 threads.  The attachment arm bracket was clamped in the vice on the milling machine and the platen bracket was bolted to it through the pivot bolt hole.  The bolt between the two parts was left  loose enough so the platen bracket could move.   A 3/8” end mill was lowered into the other hole in the platen bracket, the mill turned on and a Crescent wrench was used to crank the bracket into the end mill and cut the curved slot for the adjustment bolt.

Bolt the attachment arm to the KMG.  Assemble the brackets and the platen and hold them in place with C-clamps.  After squaring everything up, tack weld the parts together.  Take it off of the KMG and weld it together solidly.  DO NOT overdo the welds!!!  This fixture does not take a lot of pressure in use, so it doesn’t need huge welds.  The long piece of steel that the platen is made from will probably warp when you weld it.  The more you weld, the more it warps and it will have to be straightened.

Once the attachment is welded together, put it on the KMG and put on a coarse grit belt.  Leave the bolts that hold it on the KMG loose.  Start the grinder and push the attachment into the belt to make the cut-out in the back of the plate.  I put painter’s tape on the platen to keep from putting scratches in my blades.

To cut radiused plunge cuts in the clip, I made a secondary platen with the edges rounded to go over the flat platen on the KMG.  (If you like for your clips to have a square shoulder where they end at the spine, you don’t need to use a second platen).  I made the secondary platen out of micarta and used a 3/8” radius round over router to cut the radius on the edges.  It is held in place on the KMG flat platen by two 1/8” pins.  The secondary platen would be better if made from steel.  The micarta wears quickly from the belt going over it.  I usually cut the clip in using only the flat platen on the KMG and then install the secondary platen just to cut in the radiused plunges.  I recommend making the secondary platen out of steel, radius the edges as you wish and then heat-treat it.

This is a digital angle gauge that was made for woodworkers to set the angle of the blade in a table-saw.  It works great to check and set your flat platen 90 degrees square with the work rest and to set the angle on the clip grinding jig.  The bottom of the digital gauge is magnetic, so you can stick it to the steel platen.  It also has a zeroing button, so you can set it on the work rest, zero it, and then attach it to the platen to see what angle the platen is to the work rest.

Install small stops behind the ends of the angle iron brackets that hold the flat platen.  The stop plates have slotted holes so the plates can be adjusted.  This allows you to take the platen off for slack belt grinding and then re-install the platen and it will go back on the machine square with the work rest.

This is a 30" long piece of 3" x 1/4" steel that is bolted to the work rest to provide a longer support for grinding long blades.  The long plate has been drilled and tapped for 1/4" bolts that come up through holes drilled in the work rest.

This is a small platten that is bolted under the grinding belt by a drilled and tapped hole in the platen fork.  The bolt slot in the small platten is slotted for adjustment.  I use this small platten for starting the rolled edges on my blades.

I have drilled and tapped holes in the platen fork to allow me to bolt the work rest onto the fork in a vertical position.  I had to mill about .030" from the work rest arm, just behind the work rest to allow the work rest arm to clear the platen.  This set-up makes it a lot easier to grind things like the edges of handle slabs square.

A piece of angle iron bolted to the top of the round wheel arm makes it possible to use the work rest in the vertical position with that attachment.

A piece of angle iron is used again on the small wheel attachment to mount the work rest vertically.

To facilitate a difficult grinding operation, I removed the small wheel attachment from the tool arm.  I then installed the work rest on top of the tool arm and used pieces of steel to shim the small wheel fork up to the height that I needed for it to be.

Any piece of steel can be clamped to the work rest to provide extra area for positioning parts for grinding.  This is a plate of 3/16" steel that was cut to fit around the side of the flat platen.

This is the most used fixture in my shop.  It has been used for drilling precise vertical holes, holding parts for milling and a multitude of other uses.  It has threaded holes for attaching clamps to hold parts and also precisely placed holes to pin two folder handles to it for milling.

This jig is made from two pieces of precision ground bar stock.  The two pieces are bolted together and are made to set in the jaws of my milling machine vice.  The tops of the milling machine vice jaws are surface ground flat and square with the top of the milling machine table.  This jig will set on top of the vice jaws and provide a work surface that is square with the milling machine table.

One of my uses for this jig is to drill pin holes through the handle material and tang of a knife.  The knife, with the handle glued on, is clamped to the jig by the riccasso.  A piece of wood is used with a tapered wedge to hold the handle rigid so the pressure from the drill doesn't cause it to flex downward.

This is a handy little jig for a multitude of uses.  It is just a standard Dremel router base that has had a piece of Micarta added to it.  There is a hole in the center of the Micarta for the attachment to fit through.  The height of the attachment can be set by use of the router base's adjustments.

The Dremel can be fitted with a sanding drum for grinding the edges of parts, or with an abrasive disc to cut grooves in the sides of fittings; like a ferrule.

This is a mandrel for shaping a San Francisco style handle frame; like the handle in the third photo.  The center mandrel piece is made of steel.  The outer pieces are made of aluminum.  The strip of frame material is clamped between the mandrel parts and then the edges of the material are hammered over the center mandrel piece.

The second photo in this gallery is a shot of the formed handle frame after being measured for the width of the edges.  The edges of this frame were trimmed to an even width, using the Dremel jig above.

This fixture is used for milling tang mortises in handle material.  It can also be used to drill pin holes in handle material.

It is made from a piece of 3" angle iron.  There are two clamps that hold the handle material beneath the slotted side of the angle iron.  On the other side of the angle iron, a steel bar has been added to position the fixture in the jaws of the milling machine vice.  The steel bar has slotted holes for the attaching bolts to go through.  The angle iron fixture was indicated level in the jaws of the vice and then the steel bar was tightened in position against the top of the vice jaw.

To use the fixture, the handle material is clamped into it; then the fixture is placed in the milling machine vice with the steel bar resting on the top of the vice jaw.