Thread: Very thin E.A. Berg

This is the type of backing sleeve it would have had, not one of those solid ones (the solid ones don't often come adrift, but the tube ones do!):



The one above is a bit battered, but originally it would have been a tube, slit along its length and shaped at the back. You could use brass, but it wears a bit quickly when honing, or you could find some steel or stainless tube and slit it with a fine diamond wheel that is less than 1mm thick. Helps if you have a friend with a machine shop like Jimmy said, or if you can make a holder for the tube and set the saw - maybe a dremel - fixed in one position, using the tube holder to slide the tube under the wheel against a rail. The saw wheel width should be less than the width of the blade, so it makes a spring-fit.

You can use a fine blade saw like a jewellers saw, but you have to have a steady hand and a number of blades - they snap real easy!

They do trap water, so you might want to seal with silicone or epoxy.

Good luck!

Neil

I've seen one with a lead back, almost sorry I didn't buy that one... but I wouldn't want lead on my hones.

Originally Posted by Lemur

I've seen one with a lead back, almost sorry I didn't buy that one... but I wouldn't want lead on my hones.

Was that someone's attempt to fix it, do you think Lemur? Lead would wear even faster than tape on rough hones - before entirely sealing the surface of the hone and being a swine to remove without lapping!

Regards,
Neil

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Was that someone's attempt to fix it, do you think Lemur? Lead would wear even faster than tape on rough hones - before entirely sealing the surface of the hone and being a swine to remove without lapping!

Regards,
Neil

My thought to, it looked kind of funny!
As goldsmith I'm scared of anything lead, it you get it on your tools, you will get it on the jewellery and then there will be trouble!

If I was going to do it I would get some solid round stock and have a machinist mill a slot for the blade. Give enough clearance to epoxy the spine into the milled slot. Make sure the OD of the stock was going to give the proper geometry for the blade width when honing. Might be too pricey for what the project would be worth once completed, unless you know someone, or have the wherewithal to do it yourself.

I don' t have a lot of power tools, but I do own a dremel. I think it shouldn't be that hard to clamp it, build a guide and 'rout' the groove myself, like the other poster suggested. I'll give a shot, if it doesn't work out, I can always try something else. The money by itself isn't a deal-breaker, I'm not looking to make a profit, but I'm in for the fun of restoring.

Why would you take solid stock exactly, for the water that could get trapped otherwise?

It'll be interesting to see if the demel can actually help restoring a blade. So far, it's has done more bad than good.

Originally Posted by raven65536

Why would you take solid stock exactly, for the water that could get trapped otherwise?

Not because I "know" what I'm doing ..... I just like the idea of solid, as opposed to tube. OTOH, the important thing is that the geometry is correct and the gizmo is secure.