I've been meaning to do this for a long time and any practice I got here was quite a while ago at this stage.
I got this 1" chopper and it has a lot wrong with it including a bad crack near the toe (Seller made this clear so I knew) a badly damaged heal and warped scales near the wedge. The rest of the scales are solid but it was the warp at the wedge that caused the blade to crack see pic.
Took it apart to inspect. Apart from the above it has a nice deep clear etch on the face and the tang stamp should clean up well.
Out with the dremel and a diamond cut off disc. I cut beyond the crack as cracks tend to have a habit of following you around and I didn't want to deal with that. All in all I'm only missing the last centimeter of blade so I'm happy with it.
Cross-section shows a beefy blade that terminates in a very fine edge
I knew something was missing when I was sanding the blade...Barbers notch. Out with the dremel again.
Neatsfoot oil for the scales
All this was done months ago but I couldn't decide what to do with the scales. They have to be shortened but do I go for the pivot end which is easier or do I go with the wedge end which has the warp and could potentially crack the blade again?
Fast forward several months and I decided to go with the pivot end and I'll straighten the warp. This was done with several heat cycles in boiling water and held in position under a cold tap.
Cut off wheel and as I only took 1 cm off the blade I nipped them at the pivot pinhole for maximum real estate to accommodate new end shapes.
Followed by sanding drum for a rough shape
Hand sand to final shape
and a buff
I got this 1" chopper and it has a lot wrong with it including a bad crack near the toe (Seller made this clear so I knew) a badly damaged heal and warped scales near the wedge. The rest of the scales are solid but it was the warp at the wedge that caused the blade to crack see pic.
Took it apart to inspect. Apart from the above it has a nice deep clear etch on the face and the tang stamp should clean up well.
Out with the dremel and a diamond cut off disc. I cut beyond the crack as cracks tend to have a habit of following you around and I didn't want to deal with that. All in all I'm only missing the last centimeter of blade so I'm happy with it.
Cross-section shows a beefy blade that terminates in a very fine edge
I knew something was missing when I was sanding the blade...Barbers notch. Out with the dremel again.
Neatsfoot oil for the scales
All this was done months ago but I couldn't decide what to do with the scales. They have to be shortened but do I go for the pivot end which is easier or do I go with the wedge end which has the warp and could potentially crack the blade again?
Fast forward several months and I decided to go with the pivot end and I'll straighten the warp. This was done with several heat cycles in boiling water and held in position under a cold tap.
Cut off wheel and as I only took 1 cm off the blade I nipped them at the pivot pinhole for maximum real estate to accommodate new end shapes.
Followed by sanding drum for a rough shape
Hand sand to final shape
and a buff