I first use the 4 inch contact wheel shown before with an old belt to remove the forge scale and knock down any high spots. Then I move back to the KMG with the flat platen installed using a fresh 60 grit blaze belt. It is time to start the flat grinding.
[Linked Image]

Here is one side flat ground. It is important to keep everything as flat and straight as possible. It is also important that I make sure that the distal taper in the blade is ground in because I did not do that step while forging to reduce distortion.
[Linked Image]

Now that the blade is rough ground it is time to normalize with the kiln. (I did some rough normalization heats after finishing forging, but I like the control of the kiln to know I hit the right temps.) I heat the blade to 1550 and allow to cool until black, then 1525- cool to black, and finally 1500 cool to room temp. Then I put it back in to the kiln for two hours at 1200 and let the kiln turn off and slow cool to further stress relieve and do a sub critical anneal.
[Linked Image]

Now that the steel is soft I make sure that everything is straight again. At this point I can fix any warps, bends or bows with my bare hands. After it is straight, I mark where the pin holes will be and a few extra holes for the epoxy to grip.
[Linked Image]

Then drill the holes
[Linked Image]

Next is the heat treat. I heat the blade in the kiln at 1500 degrees and let it soak for 5-10 minutes. I then quench the blade into room temperature parks 50 oil. After the quench I temper it in my kitchen oven at 300 degrees while the kiln cools. When it is cooled enough I do 2 2hour tempers at 425 degrees. The kitchen oven is just a snap temper so that the blade does not have to sit at room temp for several hours while the kiln cools to tempering temps. This pic is the blade after quench sitting on my quench tank.
[Linked Image]

The scale from the heat treat is ground off and the blade is ready for final grinding.
[img]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/pike3e/51.jpg[/img]

The edge of the blade is left thick during heat treating so that decarb can be ground away and to assist with keeping the edge straight. Now the blade is sharpened on a slack belt that is tight. This produces a convex edge.
[img]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/pike3e/52.jpg[/img]

The grind is then blended up the blade as much at 1/3 the blade width. I belive this is called a Moran Edge or Moran Grind. I learned this technique at an ABS hammer in by watching Bill Wiggins do a grinding demonstration. This allows for the blade behind the edge to be quite thin and still have enough strength behind it to not give out. If it was flat ground to this thickness there would not be enough steel behind the edge to provide stability during hard cutting tasks. Since the blade is heat treated, sharp and un polished, this is the time to test the heat treat. First I cut up a few thick cardboard boxes. Then hack through a 2x4 and then ensure that the blade is still shaving sharp and easily able to push cut paper. Then I flex the edge on a brass rod to ensure that it does not chip or bend. I usually cut hanging sisal rope but I am out and need to get more. I did make a bunch of cuts through rope scraps to test for edge retention. The blade passed all tests.
[img]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/pike3e/53.jpg[/img]

One of the great things about this grind is that after you sand it again lengthwise to the blade it appears again like a flat grind. Like this.
[img]http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/pike3e/54.jpg[/img]