Custom jimping?

[KennyB]

I have several knives that have jimping on various portions of the blade that aren't very functional and I'd like to file them into more usable jimping. I don't have a bench vise or hand files to do so myself though, are there any custom makers or modifiers I could look into doing something like this?

 

[Bill86]

Not sure if STR or Richard J would do that, you can ask. Also I would bet getting a bench vise and some hand files would be cheaper than handing it off to A LOT of custom knife guys.

 

[vonhizzle]

I have seen do it yourself filing on knives, I would stay away from that if you care at all what the knife looks like. Usually turns out pretty bad.

 

[KennyB]

I have seen do it yourself filing on knives, I would stay away from that if you care at all what the knife looks like. Usually turns out pretty bad.

Well, if I had a vise and some good files I would be able to do a great job. I use to do a lot of file work in a machine shop.

@Bill86,

So far a good vise and a set of files seems like it'd run me about $100-$120. How much more would a custom maker charge for this type of job, because I that's mostly what I was worried about.

 

[Phade]

You could get some checkering files.
http://www.progresstool.com/cat-checkering-hand-file.cfm

 

[Bill86]

The idea of the vise and files with your skill would be that you could do it yourself for future knives saving you money. Got a friend/family member with a vise? You could just buy the files then. Custom job might be cheaper but you'd pay that price every time.

EDIT like I said though ask Richard J (if hes not busy) or STR (if hes not busy) and get a quote from them here on the forums if they will do it.

 

[BryFry]

You could get some checkering files.
http://www.progresstool.com/cat-checkering-hand-file.cfm

Holy cow, those files are expensive! Why is special about them that they cost 4 to 5x what a most files do? ...just currious, I have a set of diamond files that didn't cost as much as one of those.

 

[Bierkameel]

Some tape and a 0.50$ file is all you need.

 

[KennyB]

Some tape and a 0.50$ file is all you need.

Looks great, but without a vise to hold the knife still I wouldn't be able to do that nice of work. I decided to save up and get one though, since I could really use one for more than just that anyway.

 

[unit]

Before:

After:

Used no vice and a diamond file I got from a local hardware store (in a 30 dollar set of mini-files...probably 6 files in the set?).

This is not rocket science, you simply need a plan, a steady hand, and a file capable of scratching the media you are jimping. If you want a show piece, go hire an artist and never ask, "how much?". If you want functionality and a sense of DIY/satisfaction, get busy!