Quote Originally Posted by Utopian View Post
Hah! OK, ignore what I wrote before. Apparently I can't tell the difference between the spine and the edge, and I failed to notice you wrote "a quarter inch from the blade."

That is possibly of greater concern. I strongly suggest looking at it under a microscope of some sort. You need to see if there is any hint of a crack extending into the blade. I have seen rounded versions of such "chips" before. Some have arisen from coming out of a tumbler. These rounded chips are of no concern because they do not portend any sort of crack.
ok, I did take a good look at it with the strongest magnifier I have, which is a jewelers eye that is used for examining plants for fungus. It looked very round. Not jagged at all, and no crack. But again, under the pressure of honing this guy could still crack, right???

Thanks to all for the input and feedback!!

Mike