Pacific Salt regrind "how to". (With photos)
- Surfingringo
- Member
- Posts: 5824
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 2:02 pm
- Location: Costa Rica
Pacific Salt regrind "how to". (With photos)
Hey guys, as some of you who frequent the other forum might have heard, I recently lost my beloved pacific salt in the ocean. Well, its brand new replacement arrived today and the very first thing I did was grind the spine down to thin the tip out. At the request of a few folks on here, I took a couple of pics of the process and I will describe how I did it.
Before I get started, a couple of things I'd like to clarify. First, I appreciate the reason the pacific salt comes with a fatter tip. I'm not out to debate what is more useful or how the knife should be made. I just want to detail a mod that makes it function better for me. Second, I don't have any special metal working skills...at all! I only mention that because I want to encourage anyone who thinks they'd like to mod a blade like this to give it a shot. This is super easy and you don't need to have any prior experience or special tools.
Ok, all I did was put a piece of tape on one side of the blade from the hole to the tip in a straight line. The tape acts as a guide so I can just remove whatever metal is exposed above the tape line.
Then I went to work. Now here's the interesting part. I didn't have access to a bench grinder today so I just bought a sheet of 60 grit sandpaper. Laid the sandpaper on a table turned the knife spine down and went to sanding. (Btw, I DID put several layers of tape on the edge so I didn't cut my hand open!) The last time I did this on a PAC salt I ground the spine flat all the way to the tape and I ended up with a tip that was a bit TOO fine and delicate, so this time my plan was to work it evenly until I was a just above the tape line but to leave a bit more metal in the tip. (The tape was still very useful as a guide) So after exactly 10 minutes of sanding I was here...
At that point I removed the tape so I could get a better look at the curve. There was still a bit of a "hump" and it looked a bit wonky so I gave it another few minutes with no tape guide just to remove a bit more metal and smooth the transitions of the curve. When I finished, I hit it for a minute or two on a sheet of 180 grit to polish it up a bit and that's it! The entire process, start to finish took about 15 minutes. The end result looks pretty good to me. It's not perfect. I can still see a slight hump in the curve, but I would have had to take more off the tip to fix that and I decided to maintain a bit of function and strength over aesthetics.
Ok, that's it. I apologize if that was too much info or too remedial for y'all, but I was trying to show how simple it was so even those who don't have any experience might be encouraged to give it a shot. And it really is that simple. With sandpaper you go so slowly that it's nearly impossible to screw anything up! It's good fun too and you end up with a knife that's really yours! So get to work and post your results! :D
Before I get started, a couple of things I'd like to clarify. First, I appreciate the reason the pacific salt comes with a fatter tip. I'm not out to debate what is more useful or how the knife should be made. I just want to detail a mod that makes it function better for me. Second, I don't have any special metal working skills...at all! I only mention that because I want to encourage anyone who thinks they'd like to mod a blade like this to give it a shot. This is super easy and you don't need to have any prior experience or special tools.
Ok, all I did was put a piece of tape on one side of the blade from the hole to the tip in a straight line. The tape acts as a guide so I can just remove whatever metal is exposed above the tape line.
Then I went to work. Now here's the interesting part. I didn't have access to a bench grinder today so I just bought a sheet of 60 grit sandpaper. Laid the sandpaper on a table turned the knife spine down and went to sanding. (Btw, I DID put several layers of tape on the edge so I didn't cut my hand open!) The last time I did this on a PAC salt I ground the spine flat all the way to the tape and I ended up with a tip that was a bit TOO fine and delicate, so this time my plan was to work it evenly until I was a just above the tape line but to leave a bit more metal in the tip. (The tape was still very useful as a guide) So after exactly 10 minutes of sanding I was here...
At that point I removed the tape so I could get a better look at the curve. There was still a bit of a "hump" and it looked a bit wonky so I gave it another few minutes with no tape guide just to remove a bit more metal and smooth the transitions of the curve. When I finished, I hit it for a minute or two on a sheet of 180 grit to polish it up a bit and that's it! The entire process, start to finish took about 15 minutes. The end result looks pretty good to me. It's not perfect. I can still see a slight hump in the curve, but I would have had to take more off the tip to fix that and I decided to maintain a bit of function and strength over aesthetics.
Ok, that's it. I apologize if that was too much info or too remedial for y'all, but I was trying to show how simple it was so even those who don't have any experience might be encouraged to give it a shot. And it really is that simple. With sandpaper you go so slowly that it's nearly impossible to screw anything up! It's good fun too and you end up with a knife that's really yours! So get to work and post your results! :D
- vaisforlovers
- Member
- Posts: 445
- Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:10 pm
- Location: Nebraska
Very nicely done! I appreciate the time it took to post pics, write-up the notes, and pass this's on to us all. Thank you!
"The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself" John Stewart Mill
- Liquid Cobra
- Member
- Posts: 6491
- Joined: Wed Jan 02, 2013 11:38 pm
- Location: British Columbia, CANADA
Pretty amazing! I had no idea it was this easy. I messed up the tip on my Urban wharnie, now I can fix it. I really appreciate you taking the time to post this.
Most recently acquired: Military 2, Paramilitary 2 Tanto x2, YoJUMBO, Swayback, Siren, DLC Yojimbo 2, Native Chief, Shaman S90V, Para 3 LW, Ikuchi, UKPK, Smock, SUBVERT, Amalgam, Para 3 CTS-XHP, Kapara, Paramilitary 2 M390
Grail Paramilitary 2 M390 X 2! ACHIEVED!!
For more of my pictures see my Instagram account.
@liquid_cobra
Grail Paramilitary 2 M390 X 2! ACHIEVED!!
For more of my pictures see my Instagram account.
@liquid_cobra
- Surfingringo
- Member
- Posts: 5824
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 2:02 pm
- Location: Costa Rica
- brandonreed2008
- Member
- Posts: 469
- Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:45 am
- Location: 408
- Surfingringo
- Member
- Posts: 5824
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 2:02 pm
- Location: Costa Rica
Same as the rest of the knife. That's why I stopped at 180. You could polish it through 1600 to a mirror finish in about five minutes if you wanted but it would look kind of weird. I found 180 matched the original finish fairly well. Someone unfamiliar with the original design would never be able to tell the blade had been modified.Revival wrote:How does the top of the blade look after it is grinded down?
Thanks man appreciate the reply. Exactly the answer I was looking for.Surfingringo wrote:Same as the rest of the knife. That's why I stopped at 180. You could polish it through 1600 to a mirror finish in about five minutes if you wanted but it would look kind of weird. I found 180 matched the original finish fairly well. Someone unfamiliar with the original design would never be able to tell the blade had been modified.
- Surfingringo
- Member
- Posts: 5824
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 2:02 pm
- Location: Costa Rica
Give it a shot man. You really can't screw it up. I know some folks like it, but that "kindergarten scissors" tip on the pacific and salt 1 just made em hard to love for me. It wasn't until after I reground my first one that I truly fell in love with the knife. It totally transforms the functionality of the tool!Revival wrote:Thanks man appreciate the reply. Exactly the answer I was looking for.
Well, I got to work on my Swick3. Thanks for the inspiration. There was no way to make a perfectly flat back without removing too much material and cutting into the spydiehole. I like pointy tips too and I just didn't like the humpback look so here's my result:Surfingringo wrote:So get to work and post your results! :D
You can't display a toad in a fine restaurant like this! Why, the good folks here would go right off the feed!
- PayneTrain
- Member
- Posts: 1556
- Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2014 12:30 pm
- Location: CT
- Surfingringo
- Member
- Posts: 5824
- Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 2:02 pm
- Location: Costa Rica
Nice mod, looks great.
:spyder: C101PBL2, C54GPBN, C154PBK, MGREP, JGGYP, C75P3, C36TIP, C113GPGY, C127GPOR, C85GPBL, C11SBK, C10SBK, C11TR, C10TR, C28S (Wharncliffe mod), C11TIPD, C12GS, FB15P, C110GPBL, C85GP2, C141CFP, FB14P3Z, C123GPBL, C88PYL, KO4PBK, C105BMP
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God." Ephesians 6:12-13
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places...Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God." Ephesians 6:12-13