Don't bend your blades!

Ryan Sumner

Ryan Sumner

Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Messages
377
I recently got this little Ivory lambsfoot penknife in an antique shop, with zero snap on the main blade but for a price I couldn't pass up.

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The pen blade sat right in the middle of the blade-well and was hit by the main blade when it was closed. I thought, 'a little bend will fix it' but for some reason after bending it didn't move position at all. I decided I would just sharpen the pen blade, and leave the other as-is but noticed the edge on it was a little curved, so I tried bending back, and then...






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I forgot that while the blade is soft at the Ricasso, the blade would be much harder....

If this was a little richards or imperial shell, I wouldn't mind so much but this is probably the only Ivory knife I'll ever own, so I am absolutely kicking myself! I might be able to get new blades put in, and the spring tightened but I severly doubt it....
I've learned to not modify anything unless I'm willing to let it be destroyed. Please think it over if you want to try fixing a knife with a bend.






Sorry if the post is a bit of a downer, so here's my Erics Jack I've been carrying the last couple of months! Great knife, the 440c is definitely different from the 1095 I'm used to, but it holds a nice toothy edge.

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Did the same thing with a Boker Barlow not too long ago. Live and learn.
 
The Eric's Jack is a lot easier to look at! :eek: :thumbup:
 
Yikes, that's a shame. The shield side looks like ivory but the other side looks like very straight grain, usually a feature of celluloid.
Have a close look.

Best regards

Robin
 
funny some people (not saying you) try bending the blades to center them more. That usually ends in disaster.
 
I have found that Lots of these old blades tend to be brittle, possibly from heat treating and thin grind.
 
Markesharp said:
Who is the maker of that knife Ryan?
Click to expand...


The main blade is marked 'Sheffield' and 'Harrison brothers & Howson'
The secondary is very hard to read, but I can see 'hek cutlers'




Pipeman said:
Yikes, that's a shame. The shield side looks like ivory but the other side looks like very straight grain, usually a feature of celluloid.
Have a close look.

Best regards

Robin
Click to expand...

I did the 'needle' test, and it didn't seem to melt, so I thought it couldn't be celluloid.
 
I have broken exactly two traditional knife blades, both on older knives. One got caught in some material and while gently working it around to get it out, the tip broke off.

Another time I attempted to "fix" a knife where I had bent the blade. A gently adjustment to bring a blade that wasn't even rubbing another surface back to center... and *snap*.

You don't forget that sound!

Robert
 
that's a shame, but we've all done something like that, not to hijack the thread, but it is interesting to see a Harrison Bros & Howson knife, I have one too:
 
Ryan Sumner said:
The main blade is marked 'Sheffield' and 'Harrison brothers & Howson'
The secondary is very hard to read, but I can see 'hek cutlers'


I did the 'needle' test, and it didn't seem to melt, so I thought it couldn't be celluloid.
Click to expand...

Oh Geeez, DON'T put Hot anything near celluloid, the stuff Will burst into flame so fast and it'll fill your house with Nasty killer smoke before it burns out. REALLY.

Regards

Robin
 
It is sometimes possible to crink blades, but very sketchy to try if you don't know how the whole blade is heat treated. Ask me, I know...:(
 
Snapped the tip off of an old Schrade 94OT. Apparently at some point I had used the tip of it for something I shouldn't have and it had a minor bend in the very tip. I was trying to bend it the other way to straighten it out and it just snapped off. I would have been much better off just reprofiling the tip using bench stones until I had sharpened out the bent part.
 
I've successfully straightened more than I've broken but you know you'll break the ones you really like.

Machinist's Maxim - Experience is directly proportional to material ruined.
 
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