There are several innovative grinding improvements on the market of late. Expensive but may be worth the expenditure to get perfect grind lines. This is the often proposed question—-hand made or machine made? I have seen the most recent jig based attachment and it is fantastic. So much that I am seriously considering purchasing one. My question is this, will ABS sanction it’s use in JS and MS testing scenarios?
As a rule the ABS testing doesn't ask the question "What tool, if any, did you use to do this?" I think using a grinding jig is a personal choice of each Bladesmith.
That being said, Although I use grinding jigs on specific models of knives that helps me speed up the production process, I also think it's VERY important that an individual learns to freehand grind. Why? Unless a person already is competent at freehand grinding, a jig quickly becomes a "crutch". Jigs are limiting in the respect that ALL of them are designed to assist in grinding a specific blade profile....step too far out of the profile that the grinding jig was intended for, and the jig becomes useless. Those who market grinding jigs either don't tell you that information, or do their best to make you believe their product is a "magical cure"..... it's simply not true. In many cases grinding jigs simply do more overall harm then good. They create a dependency for the user.
My mindset when it comes to blade grinding is to take the time and effort necessary to learn to freehand grind. Doing so will open unlimited possibilities for you. Using a jig MIGHT give you immediate gratification, but you'll pay for that in other ways.
I've been with the ABS for MANY years, and although I've often been in on discussions of various tools and methodologies, I have never heard anyone question specific tool uses or methodologies when it comes to JS or MS testing.
The thing you have to understand/realize is this....the folks who are judges at both the JS and MS levels are Mastersmiths. They know their stuff! Speaking only for myself, it's fairly easy to spot a blade that has been ground with a jig.... and personally I consider it a "cutting corners" thing. If the grind is "right", I'm not going to begrudge or question the using of a grinding jig, as long as the grind meets the specified criteria, but in my mind it does create a level of suspicion in that if an individual cut those corners.....where else did they cut corners? What it does when I'm judging, is make me look that much harder at an individual's work.
I can't speak for the organization as a whole, but when I judge at either the JS or the MS level, whatever aspect of the knife/knives I'm judging is either "right" or it's not. How those aspects became "right" or "wrong" is irrelevant to me. When an individual fails, and I discuss ways they can improve, and hopefully pass the next time....that is when I start asking questions of methodology and specific tools uses.
Ed Caffrey, ABS MS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
www.CaffreyKnives.net
|quoted:
As a rule the ABS testing doesn't ask the question "What tool, if any, did you use to do this?" I think using a grinding jig is a personal choice of each Bladesmith.
That being said, Although I use grinding jigs on specific models of knives that helps me speed up the production process, I also think it's VERY important that an individual learns to freehand grind. Why? Unless a person already is competent at freehand grinding, a jig quickly becomes a "crutch". Jigs are limiting in the respect that ALL of them are designed to assist in grinding a specific blade profile....step too far out of the profile that the grinding jig was intended for, and the jig becomes useless. Those who market grinding jigs either don't tell you that information, or do their best to make you believe their product is a "magical cure"..... it's simply not true. In many cases grinding jigs simply do more overall harm then good. They create a dependency for the user.
My mindset when it comes to blade grinding is to take the time and effort necessary to learn to freehand grind. Doing so will open unlimited possibilities for you. Using a jig MIGHT give you immediate gratification, but you'll pay for that in other ways.
I've been with the ABS for MANY years, and although I've often been in on discussions of various tools and methodologies, I have never heard anyone question specific tool uses or methodologies when it comes to JS or MS testing.
The thing you have to understand/realize is this....the folks who are judges at both the JS and MS levels are Mastersmiths. They know their stuff! Speaking only for myself, it's fairly easy to spot a blade that has been ground with a jig.... and personally I consider it a "cutting corners" thing. If the grind is "right", I'm not going to begrudge or question the using of a grinding jig, as long as the grind meets the specified criteria, but in my mind it does create a level of suspicion in that if an individual cut those corners.....where else did they cut corners? What it does when I'm judging, is make me look that much harder at an individual's work.
I can't speak for the organization as a whole, but when I judge at either the JS or the MS level, whatever aspect of the knife/knives I'm judging is either "right" or it's not. How those aspects became "right" or "wrong" is irrelevant to me. When an individual fails, and I discuss ways they can improve, and hopefully pass the next time....that is when I start asking questions of methodology and specific tools uses.
Thanks Ed for such an in-depth response. I agree that one should be able to freehand grind an acceptable blade before going to a jig.
