Practical methods for making Salt knives pointier

[tonijedi]

Help me out guys, I wanna try to make my Salt 2 a bit pointier, but I have no belt sander.
What other methods have you used successfully?
Thanks in advance.

[SG89]

Metal file?

[tonijedi]

Metal file?

Well, I know I can use a file, or sandpaper, or stones... Just any practical trick or advice to make it easier and less prone to errors...

I may try a sanding machine that I have...

[SG89]

Use painter's tape on any parts you don't want marred. Do you have a dremel and a vise?

[vivi]

Just buy a cheap belt sander. You can use other methods but you'll be spending hours instead of five minutes. Unless you make minimum wage it doesn't factor out when one can get a sander for $30-60.

[tonijedi]

Use painter's tape on any parts you don't want marred. Do you have a dremel and a vise?

I don't... I can get to a vise at my parents, by I have no dremel.
Won't take my angle grinder close to my pocket knives either :D :eek:

Just buy a cheap belt sander. You can use other methods but you'll be spending hours instead of five minutes. Unless you make minimum wage it doesn't factor out when one can get a sander for $30-60.

I'll take a look at it, thanks.

[Evil D]

I'd buy a Dremel, that's what I reprofile all my blade spines on.

[tonijedi]

I'd buy a Dremel, that's what I reprofile all my blade spines on.

Thank you David for the suggestion.

What kind of accessory do you use in the dremel?

Are you able to show us the before and after, where you draw the line to make the new shape?

[Cambertree]

Belt sander’s the best option, as Vivi said. Dip the blade in water often to limit heat buildup.

I’ve used 80 or 100 grit sandpaper too, but it obviously takes a while. If you use a compressible substrate like a mousepad or thin packing foam, you can radius the edges to make a crowned spine. I avoid the tip area and finish that with coarse benchstones to keep it crisp and pointy.

Then go up through your grits to attain a higher polish.

I haven’t tried a Dremel for the job.

Here’s my Pac Salt 2 which was done on a belt sander:

[Evil D]

I'd buy a Dremel, that's what I reprofile all my blade spines on.

Thank you David for the suggestion.

What kind of accessory do you use in the dremel?

Are you able to show us the before and after, where you draw the line to make the new shape?

I don't think I've ever taken before and after shots but it's not hard to compare..








I do draw a line and work out how I want it shaped, and if I'm removing a LOT of steel I have a mini bench grinder I'll use to take off more steel faster (as mentioned, keep the blade cool by dipping in water often). I like the Dremel because it's slow and I have more control than with a belt sander where things can quickly go south. I use barrel sanders and I use a similar carving motion as you'd use to cut a slice off an apple.


You can get crazy or do subtle changes like this Rock Lobster..






I also use a similar method for fixing chipped/rounded off tips.

[Bolster]

I like the Dremel because it's slow and I have more control than with a belt sander where things can quickly go south. I use barrel sanders and I use a similar carving motion as you'd use to cut a slice off an apple.

Wow, that's Dremel work with barrel sanders? I'm amazed. You don't even use a Dremel cutoff disc? How many minutes does a barrel sandpaper last you?

[Doc Dan]

Just be careful of overheating. Those belt sanders can really heat up a knife blade fast. I made that mistake on a knife I modded years ago. I was making a sheepfoot blade and ruined the temper because the blade quickly got hot. I've had better luck when I could have a constant drizzle of water on the blade while I sanded. But, that's just my experience.

[Wartstein]

Belt sander’s the best option, as Vivi said. Dip the blade in water often to limit heat buildup.

....

Is it that important to avoid heat buildup when just working the spine (but not the edge)?
Could this really go so far that the structural integrity of the whole blade gets endangered (on the very edge it is obvious that even slightest changes in the hardening could be very bad, but on the spine?)

Honest question, I have no idea and experience here.

[Evil D]

I like the Dremel because it's slow and I have more control than with a belt sander where things can quickly go south. I use barrel sanders and I use a similar carving motion as you'd use to cut a slice off an apple.

Wow, that's Dremel work with barrel sanders? I'm amazed. You don't even use a Dremel cutoff disc? How many minutes does a barrel sandpaper last you?

They last a long time actually. You're working with a small surface and it grinds faster than you'd think. There are also at least two grits for those barrels and the heavier grit is pretty aggressive, I think like 60 grit or so and it'll remove metal quick. I'm sure it's slower than a belt sander or bench grinder but to me slow and steady is better than screwing it up. I finish them with sandpaper and try to make them look factory or in most cases better than factory.

Most of my knives I will smooth down the grind finish on the spine even if I don't tweak the shape, and I use small sanding barrels to clean up the finish on the inside of the thumb hole and sharpen up the edge of the hole.

Here's a comparison, it's kind of an old pic but you can see the changes made to the bottom one vs the top.





Here's another before and after I found of a cleaned up thumb hole

[Cambertree]

Belt sander’s the best option, as Vivi said. Dip the blade in water often to limit heat buildup.

....

Is it that important to avoid heat buildup when just working the spine (but not the edge)?
Could this really go so far that the structural integrity of the whole blade gets endangered (on the very edge it is obvious that even slightest changes in the hardening could be very bad, but on the spine?)

Honest question, I have no idea and experience here.

Short answer: I don’t know. :)

A bit more detailed take: The blade’s been tempered to a certain level, and even superficial heat damage on the spine, at best, probably won’t improve the characteristics of the blade.

At worst it might possibly allow sites of microcracking to initiate when the blade’s under stress. Perhaps dimensional changes in the structure of the steel might introduce other stresses, or possibly a degree of blade warping?

The potential detrimental effects of heat buildup from powered grinding may well be minimal on the spine area of a blade, but I feel it doesn’t hurt to keep the area cool. The tip area will obviously heat more rapidly, so I avoid grinding too close to that area and finish that spot with benchstones.

I dip the blade in a can of water every couple of passes.

On the photo of my Pac Salt 2 above, you can see I haven’t quite finished grinding the tip to a needle point. I decided to just let a few resharpenings of the PE tip area carry the sharpened portion up to meet the spine at the point.

[Evil D]

If you let the blade get hot you'll definitely blue the steel.

[pantagana23]

Belt sander’s the best option, as Vivi said. Dip the blade in water often to limit heat buildup.

I’ve used 80 or 100 grit sandpaper too, but it obviously takes a while. If you use a compressible substrate like a mousepad or thin packing foam, you can radius the edges to make a crowned spine. I avoid the tip area and finish that with coarse benchstones to keep it crisp and pointy.

Then go up through your grits to attain a higher polish.

I haven’t tried a Dremel for the job.

Here’s my Pac Salt 2 which was done on a belt sander:

Another option on what Cambertree suggested:

If you can get 2 pieces of copper busbars (like the ones used in MCBs or similar, 0.3"x1"x whatever length, put the knife between 2 pieces in a table vice, with the part being sanded off above the copper.
Copper is a great heat sink, and will take away the heat almost instantly to the vice and around.

[Lonehunter]

I used a file on my Salt , went pretty quick ,a few minutes . Then I hit it with some emery cloth , to smooth it out .

[tonijedi]

Thank you everyone.
I used a sander with 80 grit sandpaper and it got the job done. I started with 40 grit but it didn't work so well.

I got the blade shape / spine drop I wanted. Tried do make some swedge but didn't have the time to finish it.

[ladybug93]

man... i thought this was a coated blade for a second.