Thread: Spine work

for all you resto buffs out there:

I have an old Permedge 4/8 spike point I've been slowly bringing up to speed; truing the blade, honing, cleaning handles, polishing blade, etc.

Unlike my other razor, this one has a smooth tang. (that is, no grip grooves on the top and bottom of the tang adjacent to the blade)

I prefer the grooves, is there anything that would prevent me from just grabbing a small triangular rattail file and making grooves myself?

Also, can I use a half round file to shape the spine a bit?

Not unless you have diamond or ceramic files.

The steel is almost as hard as the file itself, so it would take ages to achieve anything.
I have a small triangular file that I use for cleaning the grooves on the tang.
I can really do a lot of filing to get rid of dirt without leaving visible damage.

A set of small diamond coated files should solve your problems, and they are not too expensive. Ok at 60 or so euros for a set they don't come cheap, but they are affordable.

If you want to work on the spine, I'd use a dremel and a drum wheel.
It's what I use for turning square points into spanish points or notch points.
And for making grooves you can use a dremel and a cutting wheel. That's what I use for taking a damaged toe off a razor.

The knife guys call this "file work" and seem to prefer to do it before they heat treat a blade because it is easier. The dremel appears to be the alternative tools but you have to be careful of overheating the steel.

I found a tutorial online that I intend to give a try with one of my cheap blades:

http://beknivessite2.homestead.com/v...ework~ns4.html

another

http://gbrannon.bizhat.com/#filework

Originally Posted by RobertFontaine

The dremel appears to be the alternative tools but you have to be careful of overheating the steel.

It is not so difficult actually. I was afraid of this as wel, but if you use ceramic disc for cutting, and fresh drumwheels for the grinding then the heat should not be much of a problem.

I have a friend who is a knifemaker, and I watched him do some filework one night with triangular and round files. It looked pretty easy to make a fairly intricate pattern just by alternating round and triangular down both sides of the knife spine. From the ease with which the files cut, I assume the knife had not yet been tempered.

Originally Posted by Kyle76

I have a friend who is a knifemaker, and I watched him do some filework one night with triangular and round files. It looked pretty easy to make a fairly intricate pattern just by alternating round and triangular down both sides of the knife spine. From the ease with which the files cut, I assume the knife had not yet been tempered.

If he was cutting with standard files, you can be sure it hadn't been tempered.