Looking for advice on this blade damage

[Tristan_david2001]

Hey all. Something very unfortunate happened with my temperance fixed blade. The other day I took my temperance out on a trail walk to clear some brush and branches along the way. And also just to test the knife out and feel how well it cuts and locks comfortably in the hand, which no surprise it did excellently. Well I was stupid and ended up getting way too carried away. I attempted to baton the blade through a small tree that fell over on the trail, against the grain of the wood (yes, I was very stupid to do that) obviously it didn’t go through the tree, but went in about an inch or so, when I pulled the blade out I noticed it suffered quite a bended spot down by the edge. so im asking you knowledgeable folk, is there any way to help this ? Will sharpening the blade only make the bend worse ? Any feedback is appreciated. Very unfortunate this happened as original temperance’s are not easily replaceable and are quite rare, had it for only about a week and this happens. So quite upset with myself about it. If nothing can be done about the it, I just hope spyderco puts this wonderful fixie back into production sometime soon.
Pictures to show the blade damage:

[RustyIron]

The good news is that the metal appears to be somewhat malleable, so you can probably straighten it back out. If it was me, I'd lay the blade flat on my welding table or chunk of metal that I use for an anvil. It doesn't matter what thick flat metal you use, as long as it's flat and won't deform.

Then I'd take a small ball pein hammer to beat down the high spots. Flatten from one side, then flatten from the other. Get it as flat as you can. You might end up with some denting where the hammer strikes the blade, but that's unavoidable. And if you overwork it, you might end up cracking it, but it's a minor risk you're going to have to accept.

If you get excited and want to improve the aesthetics, you can use progressively finer stones to hone out any remaining dents, and then put a brushed finish on the blade. Then profile and sharped the edge as usual. This doesn't seem like a huge problem, and you should be able to repair the blade nicely.

[Tristan_david2001]

Thanks for your reply, rusty. Would it really be a good idea to lay the blade against a flat piece of metal and work it out with a metal hammer? My mind tells me that would likely damage the blade further. If anything I would think a hard rubber mallet against like a hard plastic or wood surface might be less damaging. Which I would think of trying. I don’t have the means to regrind and resurface the whole blade currently. But it looks like flattening it back out and fully resurfacing the entire blade finish might be the only way to get it back to the way it was before

[Tristan_david2001]

[w3tnz]

Just clamp it in a vice, you should be able to avoid further damage if you take some care...

[Giygas]

I have a huge chef's knife that took similar damage. It wasn't quite as bad*, but otherwise the same.

I tried a rubber mallet on it against a sheet of micarta, and clamping it in a milling machine vise with no noticeable improvement.

Eventually I just sharpened it at a much lower angle than I otherwise would have, and a few sharpenings took care of it.

Edit: *the "waviness" was just about the same, but it didn't go quite as high up the blade.

[Windward]

My native salt did this. I just clamped into my worksharp pro and sort of osuhed it back into shape with the ceramic plate, then just sharpened it. Dont even notice it anymore

[RustyIron]

If anything I would think a hard rubber mallet against like a hard plastic or wood surface might be less damaging.

Maybe. There's one way to find out.
Be sure to post before and after pics.

[Tristan_david2001]

If anything I would think a hard rubber mallet against like a hard plastic or wood surface might be less damaging.

Maybe. There's one way to find out.
Be sure to post before and after pics.

I’m going to try softer materials but in a similar method you suggested. Taking a steel hammer to the blade, against a metal surface seems a little extreme right off the bat

[Tristan_david2001]

Just clamp it in a vice, you should be able to avoid further damage if you take some care...

I do not own a vice unfortunately. But yeah a vice with some rubber protectant jaws seems like it could a good route to take on re straightening the blade

[Tristan_david2001]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I’ll try and see what I can do and upload pictures if I’m successful

[zhyla]

Flattening blades is an art. You may make it worse. But that doesn’t look too bad. I would just re profile it. It will still cut.

[Tristan_david2001]

I guess I came to realize once metals bent there’s no quite bending it back and it looking the same as it did before, at least not in this case. If I am able to help straighten it back pretty good through force, the blade finish still won’t be completely pretty. So it likely would need a refinish/regrind. But for now I’ll just be happier when I can at least straighten the very edge out

[Tristan_david2001]

Flattening blades is an art. You may make it worse. But that doesn’t look too bad. I would just re profile it. It will still cut.

Hopefully I don’t, I’m trying to be careful. And I agree it doesn’t look too bad, but you can see in the blade finish that the bend does go up past the edge at least a quarter of an inch on its worst spot. I would think sharpening it could exaggerate the uneven angles of the edge?

[Doc Dan]

A small ball pein hammer and gentle tapping would help. These are used to shape metal. Don't get frisky.

I'd also sharpen it, a lot, and remove anything remaining.

Patience.

I have to admit that I am surprised by this. I don't know how many times I have done that very thing and not suffered any damage except an occasional tiny chip.

[vivi]

I found the damage a little surprising too. I've batoned my VG10 FFG Street bowie and Street beat many times with no issues. But with how wide the blade is I'm guessing the temp is thinner BTE.

The only knife I've done this to, I just kept on using and sharpening as is, and the damage is mostly gone now. It was a big chopper and I believe it took a bend trying to baton a seasoned 8" log that put enough force on the blade to bend it 10-12 degrees or so while it was being batoned.

Good luck. Hope you can get it fixed and get many more years of service out of your temp!

[Bolster]

Not sure this applies, but offering it for thought:

From my days working in an auto body shop: If the metal has been stretched (as is often the case with a dent), there is now "more of it" (in X and Y axis, less in Z axis) and hammering it further on an anvil thins and stretches it yet further, and you just spread the wrinkles out further and make them larger as you hammer them. (Of course this is for metal that isn't hardened.) In a body shop you attempt to "shrink" the metal by pinprick hammer strikes that are not backed up with an anvil. With this method you change a mountain (of stretched metal) into a lot of very low hills. This of course looks ugly, but gets the metal closer to its original position than other methods. Essentially you are folding the metal into a (rough analogy) accordion shape to get it to fit into the same space it occupied previously.

I doubt this will help for a knife blade, other than to say you might want to think twice before trying to hammer the blade flat against an anvil. If the metal has stretched, there's now "more of it" (in two dimensions and less in the third) and I doubt it's possible to hammer it flat. Perhaps your best bet is to sharpen it up and use it fearlessly, and if it fails it fails.

If I were you, and really wanted to try to 'fix' the knife, I'd take it to someone who is expert in getting bent metal to go straight again, and get his opinion. Ie, an experienced body shop guy. For an even better fix, give it to a knife maker and let him heat it, fix it, and then re-treat the blade. Though for that effort you're dollars ahead to just to buy another one.

Which is my real advice. Knowing how you like your blades, it might just be easier to swallow the price of another one and put this behind you. That's usually the way I deal with my own mistakes, if that's an option. Pay the money, cry a little, and then forget about it because I have a replacement.

[Brock O Lee]

Here is an idea that has not been mentioned yet: regrind the flats (FFG), and reprofile the edge to make the ripple disappear. Or regrind to a high convex. Basically, grind away the affected area.

If it was me, I'd just reprofile the edge lower and use the knife for lighter duty slicy tasks.

[Tristan_david2001]

I found the damage a little surprising too. I've batoned my VG10 FFG Street bowie and Street beat many times with no issues. But with how wide the blade is I'm guessing the temp is thinner BTE.

The only knife I've done this to, I just kept on using and sharpening as is, and the damage is mostly gone now. It was a big chopper and I believe it took a bend trying to baton a seasoned 8" log that put enough force on the blade to bend it 10-12 degrees or so while it was being batoned.

Good luck. Hope you can get it fixed and get many more years of service out of your temp!

Thank you. I was a little surprised to, but I did go against the wood grain and it also might have hit a knot, and I believe you’re correct on the temp being a little thinner behind the edge than a street beat so that could’ve been another factor. The blade is still almost just as usable after the bend and I’ll certainly still keep using it. Just not for batoning like that anymore. but I’m mostly afraid of sharpening it and possibly making the edge even wavier.

[Tristan_david2001]

Not sure this applies, but offering it for thought:

From my days working in an auto body shop: If the metal has been stretched (as is often the case with a dent), there is now "more of it" (in X and Y axis, less in Z axis) and hammering it further on an anvil thins and stretches it yet further, and you just spread the wrinkles out further and make them larger as you hammer them. (Of course this is for metal that isn't hardened.) In a body shop you attempt to "shrink" the metal by pinprick hammer strikes that are not backed up with an anvil. With this method you change a mountain (of stretched metal) into a lot of very low hills. This of course looks ugly, but gets the metal closer to its original position than other methods. Essentially you are folding the metal into a (rough analogy) accordion shape to get it to fit into the same space it occupied previously.

I doubt this will help for a knife blade, other than to say you might want to think twice before trying to hammer the blade flat against an anvil. If the metal has stretched, there's now "more of it" (in two dimensions and less in the third) and I doubt it's possible to hammer it flat. Perhaps your best bet is to sharpen it up and use it fearlessly, and if it fails it fails.

If I were you, and really wanted to try to 'fix' the knife, I'd take it to someone who is expert in getting bent metal to go straight again, and get his opinion. Ie, an experienced body shop guy. For an even better fix, give it to a knife maker and let him heat it, fix it, and then re-treat the blade. Though for that effort you're dollars ahead to just to buy another one.

Which is my real advice. Knowing how you like your blades, it might just be easier to swallow the price of another one and put this behind you. That's usually the way I deal with my own mistakes, if that's an option. Pay the money, cry a little, and then forget about it because I have a replacement.

Thank you for your reply bolster. That’s what I was sort of thinking, the money and effort to get the blade to look as good as it did before might not be worth it compared to just finding a new one. Sad part is original temps are rare and hard to come by, and sadly I don’t see spyderco re-running the model any time soon. I’ll just keep using this one for what I can until I get a new one some day down the road.