# Thinning behind the edge



## Seffers93 (Sep 25, 2020)

Hey guys,

I'm still working on my fourth knife. Ended up starting over. I'm really happy with the results so far except I'm struggling to get it thinner than this. It's 51mm tall at the heel. About 3/8" behind the edge, it's around .05" thick. I was just wondering if you guys ever thin behind your edges on stones before finishing the blade? Not sure if that's a thing or if I should go back to the 2x42 and keep trying to thin more that way. I'm shooting for about .04" going to .01" just behind the edge. 

Thanks in advance!

Seth


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## inferno (Sep 25, 2020)

i do all my final grinding on stones. no way to get flat bevels otherwise. and i want my bevels flat so i can touch them up on stones.

dont worry about the thickness. just use what YOU think is good.


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## Seffers93 (Sep 25, 2020)

inferno said:


> i do all my final grinding on stones. no way to get flat bevels otherwise. and i want my bevels flat so i can touch them up on stones.
> 
> dont worry about the thickness. just use what YOU think is good.



Good to know. Thank you!


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## M1k3 (Sep 25, 2020)

Yes. And I don't even make knives.


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## ma_sha1 (Sep 25, 2020)

I’ve been stone free, so I’d say yeah, go back on the belt & thin some more with the platen backing, might not be able to reach it with slack.


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## Wander Vanhoucke (Sep 26, 2020)

your edge should flex a bit under your fingernail. That'll tell you if you're thin enough. I finish with stones too.
Usually chef knives are 1mm thick 10mm away from the edge, from that point to zero at the edge will give you a grind better than 90% of what's out there.


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## birdsfan (Sep 26, 2020)

This grind looks much thinner than your first works. I don't make knives so I am not qualified to address the belt sander vs stones issue. This knife already appears thinner behind the edge than many older knives that I have thinned on stones, so it looks like a manageable amount of metal to remove. Looks great!


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## Bensbites (Sep 26, 2020)

Something doesn’t add up. 0.05 inches is 1.2 mm. The edge on the photo looks a lot thinner. 1 mm behind the edge I get to 0.2-0.4 mm.


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## Seffers93 (Sep 26, 2020)

Wander Vanhoucke said:


> your edge should flex a bit under your fingernail. That'll tell you if you're thin enough. I finish with stones too.
> Usually chef knives are 1mm thick 10mm away from the edge, from that point to zero at the edge will give you a grind better than 90% of what's out there.



Thanks for the info! I appreciate it!



birdsfan said:


> This grind looks much thinner than your first works. I don't make knives so I am not qualified to address the belt sander vs stones issue. This knife already appears thinner behind the edge than many older knives that I have thinned on stones, so it looks like a manageable amount of metal to remove. Looks great!



Thank you!! This blade is definitely thinner than my first three. This one is for a friend so I want to make it the best I can!



Bensbites said:


> Something doesn’t add up. 0.05 inches is 1.2 mm. The edge on the photo looks a lot thinner. 1 mm behind the edge I get to 0.2-0.4 mm.



The actual edge is about .02" right now. Where it's .05" is about 3/8" behind the edge.


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