Have I killed my favorite knife?

J

JulianHayes

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Mar 17, 2012
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340
I have had a Spyderco UKPK for a long while. I bought it used (they had just stopped making the s30v/G10 ones) and it had a little bit of damage to the tip. I carried it and used it hard.. It has been sharpened so many times the blade no longer bears a resemblance. I can deal with the bad sharpening, but in my stupidity, I sharpened the tip to a point where it won't close without protruding. I do have a worksharp ken onion and was thinking about making it into a wharncliffe and losing about 1/2 inch of blade. I should be hung, drawn, and quartered for what I have done. Any advice on how to fix this would be appreciated. I have always sharpened with stones, and never done any re-profiling aside from a soft Opinel and a broken Gerber.. The photos should illustrate the problem, sorry about the quality.







 
You may be able to send it to someone who can modify the kick so that it closes properly, or try it yourself, but short of that, yes, I think you've sharpened it past the point of safe pocket carry.
 
I would do a combination of reprofiling the spine right at the tip and removing a mall amount of metal from the front of the finger choil which will probably make it close a little further
 
If you have a *very* fine abrasive you could gently file the kick down. You would need to check it often because you would not believe how little material off the kick would take your problem the other way. IE the blade would hit the backspacer.
 
Squashfan said:
If you have a *very* fine abrasive you could gently file the kick down. You would need to check it often because you would not believe how little material off the kick would take your problem the other way. IE the blade would hit the backspacer.
Click to expand...

THIS!

I've done it on other pocketknives, but a little goes a long way!
If you have any narrow fine or ultra fine ceramic stones I'd start there. Most of the ones Ive done were older softer steel knives.
If you can sharpen, you can do this. Just go slow.

BTW, I'm impressed at how much that knife has been used!
 
Kick seems to be the consensus.

Also, Spyderco may replace the blade for a small fee. Since it is your favorite knife, it certainly would not hurt anything to ask.
 
Thanks for all the help! I've been panicking and in less than an hour I have so much information. Sounds like the kick is the way to go, but I will contact Spyderco first. Thank you so much!
 
Yep, take the kick down. I've had several folders that I used hard that needed this treatment.
 
I tried taking down the kick on a couple of knives, but ended up modifying the tip of the blades instead. You can simply file down the tip at an angle and keep the spear profile while making the blade safe for carry. Here is a pic of a knife where I did this:image.jpg
Here is where the blade sits now, before it was proud of the handle and would snag my pockets and fingers.
image.jpg

I did this with a diamond file, you can get a whole set of them at Lowes for around 10$. (I also use them to create sharpening notches!)
 
I have sent a request on Spyderco's website for a replacement blade, but must ask further questions.. I am a bit unclear on the kick (a bit ashamed to admit) I understand that is the part of the backspring that contacts the blade, but am not entirely sure that is the problem. Upon much closer inspection, I think the first thing to hit the inside of the backspring is the bump after the finger choil. Sorry if I have my names for knife parts wrong, still unclear on some things..

Also, is it possible (or a bad idea) to use the worksharp against the back of the blade and make a semi wharncliffe blade too short for the handle? I do love a wharnie, but will I ruin my grinder and/or blade? thanks again for the help.
 
The bump after the finger choil is the kick. That's what you can file/grind down. The kick hits the backspring first and keeps the edge from hitting it.
 
Hi Julian, Riz2530 described the kick pretty well earlier in the thread. It is that little angled piece between the choil and the blade. What it does is keep the edge from contacting the inside of the spring when the knife is in the closed position. If you do end up filing it down, make sure to do it very carefully as others have suggested here. Take off too much and the edge will impact the spring every time you close the knife.
 
I thought that was the kick. Thank you. Hopefully I'll hear back from Spyderco in the next weeks, or gently work on the kick as advised. I really can't say how helpful this is, Thank you. I'll keep checking the thread and update with any info of course..
 
Spyderco won't replace blade but they will adjust the kick & resharpen for you.

However, DIY by grinding a bit of kick should be the trick. Try taking off a little at a time, and also check if the blade edge hits the backspacer, which is the downside of grinding the kick. However, if you have resharpen the blade quite a bit, it won't easily hit the backspacer.

Good luck!
 
Thanks again for all the help, I have just finished taking a bit off the kick but had to take a little bit off the tip as well. I always wanted a wharnie ukpk.. now it's a weird looking thing indeed. The tip is totally protected, so it is safe to carry. Also, after getting the convex edge up the the new tip, it is a great blade shape that cuts really well. I am sorry that I have destroyed my only discontinued spyderco, with a dozen production models waiting to be beaten on, but I love using the heck out of this thing and will keep on using it until there is no steel left.. Thanks for all the help, fingers still crossed on a replacement blade but I know it's a longshot (discontinued, violated the warranty, and more importantly, the knife). Sorry all I have are iphone pics, but it should show that it is usable, if a bit odd (ok, darn ugly). Thanks for all the help, even though I live in a part of California where I can carry just about any Spyderco, I am very happy to put this ukpk in my pocket. I won't even know it's there until I need to cut something.. now I can fondle it while watching the last game of the world cup today.. Thank you so much!!







 
Back in service is what it's meant to be, at least what I understand a knife is meant to be. Congrats on your fix and continued enjoyment! :thumbup:
 
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