How to narrow spine w/o a proper belt sander

[Rustynail]

That pretty much sums it up. I appreciate any feed back.
I can see its possible maybe taping the blade a using a honing stone, but that sounds like alot of work at the expense of the stone and the wrist. Is there an easier way?

 

[psfred]

Not really, unless you have a good machine shop locally that can (carefully) surface grind it down for you.

If you are stuck with a truely manumatic system, coarse silicon carbide w/d paper on something flat is probably the best way. We aren't talking fast though....

 

[Slash McCoy]

Don't bother with tape. Use steel from a can lid. First, flat hone a preliminary bevel on 60 grit. Go at it until you have a straight edge. This ensures that the edge can serve as the honing guide for the spine and they will be parallel. Put the can lid guard on the edge, and hone down the spine to the desired thickness. For best results sand the spine back round again, at least. Takes a while to do it without power tools and I highly recommend a belt sander clamped upside down in your bench vise.

 

[bluesman 7]

I've done it using a bench grinder and alternately using a coarse cheap diamond hone and taped edge to mark where to grind. When I got close to the target thickness I finished with the coarse hone.

 

[Rustynail]

Thanks guys. I do have an old hand held belt sander. I never thought of clamping it in a vise