Reducing blade length

[Soanso McMasters]

Can you fine folks give some advice on reducing the blade length on an LC200N blade manually using stones? Which stones would work best? Work from the spine to the tip, etc? This would be on a Pacific Salt 2 3.76 inch knife and I would like to take something like 1/16 of an inch off.

[JSumm]

Maybe trace the blade on paper. Make some copies and redraw something. Go with what you like. You could do a straight spine and shorten it or do a really really sheepsfoot. Draw on the knife so you know what you are shooting for.

Sorry that is all I have to offer. I've never taken that much off. I would be afraid of using a power tool as to heat up the blade too much.

[metaphoricalsimile]

Is the extra blade length that important that you don't want to just get a Salt instead of a Pacific Salt?

If you absolutely want to do it, a nice course stone and patience should get you there. Follow up with finer stones to remove the scratch pattern if the aesthetic is important to you.

[Soanso McMasters]

I think I would prefer the LC200N over H1

[JSumm]

The Salt 2 has an LC200N version with the green handle. Do you just want the larger handle?

[Airlsee]

If I were wanting to remove that much material manually, I think I would begin with a file...

[Soanso McMasters]

The Salt 2 has an LC200N version with the green handle. Do you just want the larger handle?

And larger blade. They jump from 3 inch to 3.76 inch, correct?

[JSumm]

The Salt 2 has an LC200N version with the green handle. Do you just want the larger handle?

And larger blade. They jump from 3 inch to 3.76 inch, correct?

Correct, I thought you were just looking for LC200N. I'm that case, you could start off with a belt grinder and finish by hand. I wouldn't over heart the blade.

[Soanso McMasters]

I will have to do it by hand because I don’t have a grinder

[Eli Chaps]

First, no power tools.

I've never handled a Pacific Salt but looking at the pics, it looks like you're going to be altering the tip profile quite a bit with that much material removal. You'd want to work the spine and the edge and I would probably do some thinning.

A file or coarse sandpaper would be a good start but then you'll want to do a good free hand progression.

[Evil D]

A coarse diamond stone/plate would make short work of this. You can even use sandpaper laid on a very flat surface like a sheet of glass (glass that you don't care about potentially scratching up). I would follow the curve of the spine and blend it down until you remove as much as you're looking to take off. I've done this in the past when I lived in a blade length law area. If you search my posts all the way back to probably 2011 or so I'm sure I posted pics of a Paramilitary 1 that I did this to, if Photobucket hasn't deleted them by now.



Here ya go, not the best pic but if you zoom in and look really close you can see that the spine isn't straight anymore and curves very slightly down at the tip where I shortened it.

[Soanso McMasters]

A coarse diamond stone/plate would make short work of this. You can even use sandpaper laid on a very flat surface like a sheet of glass (glass that you don't care about potentially scratching up). I would follow the curve of the spine and blend it down until you remove as much as you're looking to take off. I've done this in the past when I lived in a blade length law area. If you search my posts all the way back to probably 2011 or so I'm sure I posted pics of a Paramilitary 1 that I did this to, if Photobucket hasn't deleted them by now.



Here ya go, not the best pic but if you zoom in and look really close you can see that the spine isn't straight anymore and curves very slightly down at the tip where I shortened it.

Thanks D, that looks good. How long would you say it took?

[Evil D]

Thanks D, that looks good. How long would you say it took?

I used a Dremel, so it's more about trying to be slow and careful. With a stone it really just depends on how much you need to remove and how coarse your stone is. This is also how I fix chipped tips. If you're removing 1/16 or so I would get some decent silicone carbide sandpaper and start with 80-100 grit and work through to finer grits. You may also want to finish the entire spine with a sanded/brushed finish like all the higher end Spyderco's use since the tip will show sanding marks. Also be careful not to roll the blade off 90 degrees too much, it's easy to scratch the sides of the blade. If you're using sandpaper you may need to do more pull stroke because pushing might dig into the paper and cut a hole in it.



I will also say I can't recommend a Dremel enough if you don't own one, especially if length laws are such a concern that you'll be doing little mods like this. I also have a mini bench grinder that I use for heavier grinding, but you need to be careful with heat using either one.

I wouldn't want to do something like this with only stones or sandpaper.







This thread shows some pics of refinishing the spine on a D'Allara 2 like I mentioned.

viewtopic.php?t=76873

[Airlsee]

Thanks D, that looks good. How long would you say it took?

I wouldn't want to do something like this with only stones or sandpaper.




This thread shows some pics of refinishing the spine on a D'Allara 2 like I mentioned.

viewtopic.php?t=76873

Because files exist?

[Airlsee]

LC200N is not 66 hrc K390 or Rex45...

A determined individual could mold a Pac Salt into oblivion in 10 minutes...

[Evil D]

Thanks D, that looks good. How long would you say it took?

I wouldn't want to do something like this with only stones or sandpaper.




This thread shows some pics of refinishing the spine on a D'Allara 2 like I mentioned.

viewtopic.php?t=76873

Because files exist?

Never considered using a file...with as hard as some of these steels are I'm not sure how well they'd work. A Dremel is so easy and they're so inexpensive now, it's just worth having one.

[Airlsee]

I understand, but don't like to overlook the obvious...

I was also sticking to the manual data point...files are great when used with caution.

[Airlsee]

Thanks D, that looks good. How long would you say it took?

I wouldn't want to do something like this with only stones or sandpaper.




This thread shows some pics of refinishing the spine on a D'Allara 2 like I mentioned.

viewtopic.php?t=76873

Because files exist?

Never considered using a file...with as hard as some of these steels are I'm not sure how well they'd work. A Dremel is so easy and they're so inexpensive now, it's just worth having one.

I understand and also don't want to come off as contentious, which I have...but let's not over complicate Soanso's situation....

[z1r]

I'll say this, the Dremel is also often the fastest way to mess something up. Slow and steady. If file works, great, if not absent powers tools like a belt sander, a coarse stone to start with will remove a fair amount of material.

[zhyla]

Stones will take forever. Filing hardened steel isn’t particularly fast either.

I would do this with a belt grinder or bench grinder and dip it in ice water frequently to preserve the temper. Actually I have no idea if LC200N even has a temper but just to be on the safe side. Also tape everything off to keep dust out of the handle and go slow.