# Knife Blood Groove - How??



## ogeecheehunter (Feb 23, 2011)

I made a sliding jig on my drill press and I was going to make a blood groove in the new knife I made.  I have never made a blood groove.  I bought a "so called" metal grinding stone.  I put it on my press and touched it down, and the stone disintegrated.

How do you make blood grooves??


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## sharpeblades (Feb 23, 2011)

*Knife making*

I would suggest you learn the basics first


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## Brad Singley (Feb 23, 2011)

Sharpeblades is right,  the blood groove or fuller is not an easy thing to pull off.  Just enjoy designing of the knives and working on fit and finish for now.  Knifemaking is not something you can learn overnight, it comes with time and the desire to learn.
   Having said that, most fullers are either roughly forged in and then cleaned up with blocks and sandpaper shaped to the desired fuller width and depth.  Another method that works with smaller grooves is a handmade tool that has a carbide cutter shaped like the desired groove.  It will also have a limiter on it so that you can cut in the same place on the blade with precision.  Hope this helps.


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## george hancox (Feb 23, 2011)

why do you want a blood groove?They were put there on swords and bayonets to remove from the body easy after a very hard thrust.for hunting and cut use there is not much need for them.


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## T.P. (Feb 23, 2011)

Ball nose end mill and milling machine. It's serves no actual use except for looks.


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## Brad Singley (Feb 23, 2011)

It's purpose is to remove weight.  Steel was a very expensive and coveted commodity 1000 years ago,  if a cutting instrument could be made just as strong without the use of extra material then that's the way things would be done.  In out modern era steel is relatively cheap as compared to then.
    The whole blood groove thing and easier to remove from flesh is highly misunderstood.  The bones of whatever you were hacking and stabbing would inhibit blade removal much more so than flesh and fat.  The modern fuller/blood groove is mostly to remove weight from swords to help with balance and on knives for it's visual effect.


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## ogeecheehunter (Feb 24, 2011)

Yep....I was wanting the look of this Buck Classic pictured.  I think my sliding press jig theory is good, but I just haven't found a bit tough enough with a rounded shape.


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## Brad Singley (Feb 24, 2011)

If you are using a drill press for lateral movement it's gonna give you grief.  Drill presses are designed to take force downward not from the side.  One of two things will happen, you will wear out the bearings and cause it to develop a walk or it will cause you to drill holes bigger than intended.  You may get away with if for awhile but it will catch up eventually.  If you want to do this get a milling machine, it is designed to take lateral force without walking, there is a whole world of cutters out there to use.


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## deputyatnight (Feb 24, 2011)

Harbor Freight sells a cheaply made, but affordably priced mini milling machine, that would work for projects like that.  As mentioned above, I'd use a ball nose end mill to mill the groove.  A cheap mill may come in handy for a lot of projects.


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