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- Jul 23, 2015
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Sometimes a knife will come from the factory with very sharp edges to the liners, or the scales in the case of nested liners. The Police 4, and the Shaman are my examples for each. This can be pretty uncomfortable when handling a knife, but it doesn't have to be so. Many of us disassemble and reassemble our knives to get a feel for the inner workings, and often will take care of such issues at that time.
But for those who don't disassemble, here are a few extremely simple ways to resolve the crisp liner/scale issue:
Sharp Liners:
It is easy to knock down the sharpness of a liner by taking your basic box cutter blade and running it along the crisp liner edge at a 45° angle until you have removed sufficient material for the knife to feel comfortable in your hand. This is not advisable for most scale material, because being softer, it is more likely to cause unsightly gouges if you are not very careful.
Sharp Scale Edges:
The corners and edges of scales that are too sharp can be taken care of using small diamond files to chamfer or knock down the sharpness. I recommend a sort of diagonal skating tehnique, so that you are not filing in a groove in one spot, but moving along the length of edge in a more distributed manner, if you get what I mean. Also, I wouldn't stick with just 45° as above, but start at a shallow angle and do a few passes, then increase the angle by a few degrees, and repeat until you have developed a nice "round" chamfer.
Finish the Scale Edges:
Now all that is left is to grab a piece of sandpaper, or a sanding sponge, head to a sink, turn the faucet on to a trickle, and sand away until it is all uniform. Wash the sink out well if it is a kitchen sink!
I know there are a lot of knives at all price points that have some of these issues. Square edged scales like the Paramilitary 2 or Military can benefit from this type of treatment, and sharp opening holes like on Byrd knives, or the Chinese Spydercos can benefits from diamond file technique.
I hope this helps someone out there who has a great knife they love but just don't use because of some of these issues. Well now with no more than a half hour of work, you can fix those ergos and love the knife as you always wanted to.
These aren't the only ways, but just some of the ways that have worked for me.
Cheers!
But for those who don't disassemble, here are a few extremely simple ways to resolve the crisp liner/scale issue:
Sharp Liners:
It is easy to knock down the sharpness of a liner by taking your basic box cutter blade and running it along the crisp liner edge at a 45° angle until you have removed sufficient material for the knife to feel comfortable in your hand. This is not advisable for most scale material, because being softer, it is more likely to cause unsightly gouges if you are not very careful.
Sharp Scale Edges:
The corners and edges of scales that are too sharp can be taken care of using small diamond files to chamfer or knock down the sharpness. I recommend a sort of diagonal skating tehnique, so that you are not filing in a groove in one spot, but moving along the length of edge in a more distributed manner, if you get what I mean. Also, I wouldn't stick with just 45° as above, but start at a shallow angle and do a few passes, then increase the angle by a few degrees, and repeat until you have developed a nice "round" chamfer.
Finish the Scale Edges:
Now all that is left is to grab a piece of sandpaper, or a sanding sponge, head to a sink, turn the faucet on to a trickle, and sand away until it is all uniform. Wash the sink out well if it is a kitchen sink!
I know there are a lot of knives at all price points that have some of these issues. Square edged scales like the Paramilitary 2 or Military can benefit from this type of treatment, and sharp opening holes like on Byrd knives, or the Chinese Spydercos can benefits from diamond file technique.
I hope this helps someone out there who has a great knife they love but just don't use because of some of these issues. Well now with no more than a half hour of work, you can fix those ergos and love the knife as you always wanted to.
These aren't the only ways, but just some of the ways that have worked for me.
Cheers!
.