AK-47 blade grinding

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Aug 25, 2010
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I want to cut\grind away the sharpied portion on my AK-47 folder blade. My question is what should I use and how should I go about it? I have a dremel and a hand held cutting wheel. But I guess in doing using either or even me buying the harbor freight 4x30 bench sander the heat will warp the blade? Advice please!

Thanks

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If you grind the blade back from the edge like that it is going to be waaay thick. You'll need to thin the entire blade to get proper geometry back. While not impossible, it's probably far more work than you'll want to do. I wouldn't recommend powered tools. I'm not usually one to discourage things like this, but unless you don't mind sacrificing the knife to learning, I say leave it be. The amount of work you're looking at, you'd be far better served buying some steel and files, reading (a lot!) and making your own knife. It'll likely end up looking much different than what you have pictured (that doesn't really look very useful anyway, if I'm honest), but that's okay. You'll probably be much happier (and smarter) for having done so.

Just the opinion of an advanced tinkerer and pro level knife wrecker. ;)
 
If you want to make a change to the blade trace it out on a cereal box template then, cut your shape then try shaping a piece of wood first.
 
To start, you don't have the right tools for the job. And the 4x30 is not the right tool either. You would be better off with the 1x30, which is still minimal at best. A 2x42 Craftsman is the better way to go. Once you have the tools, you have to have the skill, which is the most important part. The guys that "pimp" have lots of time and practice at their craft. Sure everyone starts somewhere, but the best place is on cheap metal before jumping into ruining a good production knife.

If this is your first time sitting down at a belt grinder, I suggest you practice on some cheap stuff before ruining a good knife. Go grab some bar stock at your local hardware store about the thickness of that blade. Cut it to shape and see how good you are at matching them. Then you can work on the re-profile.
As mentioned. Unless you want a very obtuse edge, you are going to need to thin out the blade.
Also, you are working with heat treated material, so if you get it too hot, you will ruin the heat treat and have a worthless blade that won't hold an edge. Tip.. if it too hot to the touch, you probably ruined the heat treat. Those little belt grinders are ripping fast and create LOTS of friction FAST! Knowing how fast to work and being able to do it accurately is something that takes lots of time to learn.

I'd not ruin a good knife on your first project. Learn some still first then move on to your project once you feel confident it will function properly and look good.

Just my .02
 
If it gets hot to the touch, dunk it in water. I keep a coffee can by my grinder. Or I could do it.
 
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