Did you ever have to file your kick down on your traditional?

C

csisland

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Aug 8, 2013
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Maybe when you first got the knife the blade tip was riding a tad high where if you ran your finger over it, you would catch the tip.
 
Yes. Many times. I use a medium stone and check every 3 passes.
 
I lowered my case stockman sheepsfoot blade which sat high. I didn't necessarily catch my finger/hand on it, but it was just high enough to be bothersome. Perfect now. I might be less inclined to do it on a more expensive knife, but this is a user that gets all the dirty work so I gave it a whirl.
 
eisman said:
Yes. Many times. I use a medium stone and check every 3 passes.
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So even if you receive a new knife, and the kick is borderline where your finger can catch it, doesn't mean it's suppose to be that way?
In other words, if you get the knife should we assume that this is the way the knife is suppose to be and leave it alone?
 
I have filed the kick on sheepfoot blades that were too high in some Case stockman knives.
 
My new Fremont Jack came with the blade tip riding a tad high where my finger would catch it slightly. Had the kick filed down a tad and they did a perfect job when they sent it back. Just wondering how common something like this is.
 
Now if you file the kick down a smidge, this wouldn't cause the underliner to collapse in for the little bit you take off?
 
csisland said:
Maybe when you first got the knife the blade tip was riding a tad high where if you ran your finger over it, you would catch the tip.
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Just did that couple of days ago on GEG Viper exactly for the reason you stated. Slow and easy with diamond file till every thing is nice and smooth.

Mike
 
I have done this, and had no negative side effects. Like others have said, just be careful and go slow. I'm not really concerned with how a knife is "supposed to be". It's my knife and I want it to be in a condition that I'm happy with. On the other hand, I have handled knives where the kick was filed down too much. The spey blade on my 8OT was impossible to open without tools when I got it because somebody had filed down the kick enough that I couldn't get a good angle on the nail nick. I had to take a dremel to the liner and scale and extend the curve down a bit. Now it works fine, and you'd probably never notice it if I didn't point it out.
 
mike Berkovitch said:
Just did that couple of days ago on GEG Viper exactly for the reason you stated. Slow and easy with diamond file till every thing is nice and smooth.

Mike
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I couldn't get myself to take the chance and ruin it so I sent it in for them to take a look and I just got it back with a good result. I was just worried about the underliner caving in with touching the kick, but I guess it didn't have any impact.
 
Didn't HAVE to do it, but I did it because I wanted to. The sheepfoot blade sat very high on this Queen #49 Cattle King; it's spine was ~1/8" or so above the clip blade's spine. I filed quite a bit off the sheepfoot's kick (seen at left in top photo; compare to untouched spey's kick at right), which lowered it's spine to flush with the clip's spine. Worked out great; I used a Dremel to do the grinding on the kick:
Individual knives may have issues with the spring for the affected blade 'sinking' after grinding the kick. Didn't present a problem with my Queen, as the spring didn't drop noticeably at all (lower spring on right side of the pic below):

David
 
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My new GEC 15 is like that I noticed the other day. It does not catch on anything you only notice it when you run your finger across it.

Dave
 
dpowers311 said:
My new GEC 15 is like that I noticed the other day. It does not catch on anything you only notice it when you run your finger across it.

Dave
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It's a personal preference thing I guess. It was bothering me so I sent it in and I'm happy with it.
 
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I've filed down dozens of kicks. The latest was a Ken Coats custom that was standing a bit proud after a few years of working for a living. Like someone else said, it's my knife and I don't care how it's " supposed to be", it's going to be how I want it to be.
 
Yes, on stockman sheepfoot blades a number of times, purely for aesthetic reasons.
 
A few times, just a little makes a lot of difference :)
 
Thanks for the feedback. It seems it's more common than I thought. I felt like I was nitpicking when I sent it back and being a ball buster. Guess not. :p
 
Mostly, I've taken a little off the kick off an old knife, where the blade has been sharpened so much the point sits outside the liners, but the last time I did it was on a Belgian Army Clasp Knife to lower the can-opener blade a little, so as to make the Sheepsfoot pinchable.
 
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