Advice Needed on Blade Edge

K

knifes101

Joined
Sep 12, 2009
Messages
44
Hi everyone!

I have been using my nice new 20" Kobra for chopping coconuts (I know this is not it's intended use) and I have put a couple of small dents in the blade edge so there is a little wave to the cutting edge, and I am wondering how to get them out. Do I use a file, hammer, or something else? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
I wouldn't use a file unless it's softer or equal to the hardness of the blade edge. If you remove the metal on accident it won't come back.

I'd go with hammering it back, but I would also wait for a more informed opinion.
 
Hammer it back. This is the same thing you do with an old fashioned Scythe if you hit a rock and get a wave in the blade.
 
How much of a wave/dent is it? If it's real small, you could use the chakma (little knife looking thing with no edge), or hammer it into place and use the chakma to smooth it out.


Maybe it's a bad practice, but I've noticed with several HI blades I've gotten that the outer bit of metal on the sweet spot of the edge is quite soft. I use a file to remove it, and I know I'm down to the harder metal when the file stops biting and starts to skate (be careful, danger of cutting yourself doing this), and then sharpen from there with stones.
 
If the waves are minor then they can be corrected with the chakma. A butchers steel also comes in handy in these cases.
 
I can see and feel the waves and one wave is turned out a bit but they are not too big. Cpl Punishment, What hardness and grit file would I use to remove metal?

If I hammer the dents back into shape, would I just use an ordinary hammer? Do I want to support the blade at an angel on a surface? Should I clamp the blade down?

Thanks for the advice so far.
 
Please don't take this the wrong way, as I don't know your skill level, but I'd recommend you not file it unless you are good with a file. Maybe get a cheap $6 hardware store machete and practice with the file first? Anyway, I use what's called a Mill Smooth. A Mill file has teeth going diagonal only one way (a Flat file has them going both ways). Smooth is a fine toothed file. A Mill Smooth is best for removing a little bit of material and giving a fairly good finish.

You'll also get through this softer metal in time by sharpening the blade, and that might be the better way.

To hammer the waves out you can just use a regular hammer. I'd use a light one. Place the bevel of the kukri flat on a solid piece of wood, with the "bumP" up toward you. Lightly tap it back into place. Go slow, as you don't want to strike too hard and start moving the metal other than the bump. When it's very close to being in line with the rest of the edge, use the chakma, or a butcher's steel (good call Wildmike) to finish the alignment.
 
Cpl Punishment,

You are right in that I don't have a lot of experience with sharpening but I do use machetes for most of the farm work I need to do. Most of the machetes are kind of junky and I am not very attached to them so I would just grab any file (the mill file kind) and run it across the edge for a few minutes trying to maintain a consistent angle. That is all I know about sharpening! But now that I have a nice khukuri blade I really want to know how to take care of it properly. So thanks for the advice.
 
I'm a tool & die maker by trade, and sometime I forget that not everyone had to put in the time to really know how to use a file, thus I wanted to warn you.
 
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