Ideas of how to "sharpen" nail nicks, please!

[RickHuf]

Hello!

I purchased this economical Boker congress to use for daily abuse to prevent myself from destroying a nice old one. It is one of the "made in Germany" bokers. Not Solingen but assembled in Germany. China parts I guess.

I had four issues with this that kept it from being a decent knife. The blades sat way way too high when closed. The bone was just a chunky slab with flat edges, there are no half stops and the nail nicks are so rounded over it makes it hard to open the blades.

The blades have all been lowered and the bone rounded, so that takes care of two. The half stops are not really necessary and I'm not going to take this apart just to grind flat spots for it.

The last thing are these nail nicks! I can not think of any way to "sharpen" these up. If I had access to good machine tools maybe cut them out like the Bose case knives .. or maybe grind long pulls into it... But I don't have anything that will do it. I have thought about small files but my files won't even touch this steel.

Does anyone have any ideas that I can try in order to make this knife more user friendly?!? Should I just leave it alone and quit whining about an inexpensive knife?

Thanks for any consideration!

 

[catspa]

What I have done (which doesn’t mean you should) is build a jig to hold the blade edge up on the X-Y table of my drill press and chuck up an Dremel abrasive wheel. The result looked pretty ugly, but functioned well.

Perhaps you could do a freehand, practice on some scrap steel first.

Parker

 

[Guy McVer]

Maybe worth a try to use some sandpaper. You can fold it to a small 90 degree bend and run it along the crease of the nail nick to try and flatten yourself a sharper corner for your fingernail to fit into. It will probably take you forever but I can't think of anything else that doesn't involve power tools. You can use the corner of something like a thin metal ruler or a piece of scrap to support the sandpaper so it keeps a useful shape while you are using it.



If you do try this, then you might want to mask off the rest of the blade with a piece of tape to avoid scratching it up.

 

[killgar]

If I'm reading you right, you want the nail nick to be deeper so you can get a better grip in it with your nail?

I might try a mini diamond file, carefully working the fine tip of one of the files back and forth inside the nick.

These are very small diamond files (pictures below), and some have very fine tips. I've been using these files for many years, on knives, and more things than I could count. I consider them indispensable, so much so that I bought 3 sets in case they ever stop making them. Being diamond files they work on hardened steel.

If you do a search on Amazon for (EDIT- Correction, see post #7) you will find them. The case lists the size as "100mm x 2mm" (100mm long, 2mm diameter).

Shown with #2 pencil for size comparison.

 

[RickHuf]

What I have done (which doesn’t mean you should) is build a jig to hold the blade edge up on the X-Y table of my drill press and chuck up an Dremel abrasive wheel. The result looked pretty ugly, but functioned well.

Perhaps you could do a freehand, practice on some scrap steel first.

Parker

Thanks! I don't have a drill press but I do have a jewelers lathe where I could make a jig. Hmm. Thanks.

Maybe worth a try to use some sandpaper. You can fold it to a small 90 degree bend and run it along the crease of the nail nick to try and flatten yourself a sharper corner for your fingernail to fit into. It will probably take you forever but I can't think of anything else that doesn't involve power tools. You can use the corner of something like a thin metal ruler or a piece of scrap to support the sandpaper so it keeps a useful shape while you are using it.



If you do try this, then you might want to mask off the rest of the blade with a piece of tape to avoid scratching it up.

Sandpaper was definitely my next choice after the files but it may be hard to keep it from rounding the edges. Worth a shot though! I have no shortage of junk knives to try it with. Thanks!

If I'm reading you right, you want the nail nick to be deeper so you can get a better grip in it with your nail?

I might try a mini diamond file, carefully working the fine tip of one of the files back and forth inside the nick.

These are very small diamond files (pictures below), and some have very fine tips. I've been using these files for many years, on knives, and more things than I could count. I consider them indispensable, so much so that I bought 3 sets in case they ever stop making them. Being diamond files they work on hardened steel.

If you do a search on Amazon for "Oudtinx Mini Diamond File Set" you will find them. The case lists the size as "100mm x 2mm" (100mm long, 2mm diameter). The newer ones apparently now come with red rubber handles, which is an upgrade. They cost $12 and ship direct from Amazon.

Shown with #2 pencil for size comparison.

Thanks for the reply!

Not necessarily deeper, just sharper. I guess when finishing the blades they polished them so much it just rounded off the edges and a fingernail just slides right out of the nick.

Those files look excellent. I love my regular needle file set but they just don't work on this steel. I'm going to check that out for sure, thanks!

 

[Another Shepherd]

If you do a search on Amazon for "Oudtinx Mini Diamond File Set" you will find them.

You can get coarse and fine diamond needle files made in the USA from EZE-LAP, a reputable brand.

Chinese companies use weird names such as "Oudtinx" to get US trademarks with little chance of conflict with US companies. Fakespot thinks that many of the "customer" reviews on Amazon of Oudtinx are fake and gives the red Oudtinx diamond needle files an adjusted rating of "D", which you can interpret as 2 stars instead of 4 stars.

 

[killgar]

You can get coarse and fine diamond needle files made in the USA from EZE-LAP, a reputable brand.

Chinese companies use weird names such as "Oudtinx" to get US trademarks with little chance of conflict with US companies. Fakespot thinks that many of the "customer" reviews on Amazon of Oudtinx are fake and gives the red Oudtinx diamond needle files an adjusted rating of "D", which you can interpret as 2 stars instead of 4 stars.

I started out with a fine set of EZE-LAP diamond files, and to put it frankly, they sucked. The diamond coating was very rough with large particles sticking out all over the place, they were useless. Of course it's possible they were fake EZE-LAP files, but who knows. Pic below, screenshot of my EZE-LAP order from back in 2015. I paid $37.73 for them, they cost more now.

Thank you for your post Another Shepard, because it turns out I recommended the wrong files in my earlier post. Below is a screen shot of the files I pictured and misidentified in my earlier post. They are sold under the brand EURO TOOL, and they can be found on Amazon by searching for "Diamond Needle File 100x3x2mm", sorry for the error RickHuf. The EURO TOOL files are a few dollars more than the Oudtinx.

I bought the EURO-TOOLs files after my disappointment with the "EZE-LAP" files, and I found them to be far superior to the EZE-LAP files I purchased. The diamond coating is fine and even, and they are narrower with finer points to get into smaller spaces. Like I said, I've been using them for many years (since August 2015), and I still haven't worn out my first set. They're still going strong.

And set number 3.

 

[Ace Rimmer]

I have a Rough Rider trapper that had a nail nick that was too shallow and very difficult to open. I used a Dremel Tool and cut off wheel to carefully cut it deeper. Worked perfectly and didn't look too bad. Of course, we're talking about a $14 knife, so it was a "nothing to lose" kind of experiment. The cut off wheels are 15/16 inch in diameter and 0.040 inch thick.

 

[Sharp Steel]

How about a cylinder with a large enough diameter to cover the curve of the nail nick, with sand paper on it? Maybe a wooden dowel? You are trying to deepen the cavity, right?

 

[RickHuf]

You are trying to deepen the cavity, right?

Not necessarily deepen but it wouldn't hurt.

This should help explain a bit better. The circled area is just way too rounded and polished up making it hard to get the blade open. The top red line represents a cross section of how it is now, and the bottom red line represents a cross section of what I want to try and do to make the nail nicks better.



With the suggestions here, I went and wrangled up some sandpaper, dowels, a Dremel with many tips, diamond mini files and some grinding disks....

Let's see what kind of damage I can do here! Lol.
Thanks everyone!

 

[RickHuf]

I'm usually against using the rotary tool for most things but in this case it worked well. A diamond burr and then a little work with the diamond files and it's perfect. I might clean them up with sandpaper later but honestly I can open the knife up perfectly now. Much better!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Another Shepherd]

I started out with a fine set of EZE-LAP diamond files, and to put it frankly, they sucked. The diamond coating was very rough with large particles sticking out all over the place, they were useless. Of course it's possible they were fake EZE-LAP files, but who knows.

Well that sucks. I was thinking about getting the EZE-LAP files because of the two available grits, but I guess not. The diamond needle files that I have were made in China, but there is no other information on them. I have no complaints about them.

Thank you for your post Another Shepard, because it turns out I recommended the wrong files in my earlier post. Below is a screen shot of the files I pictured and misidentified in my earlier post. They are sold under the brand EURO TOOL, and they can be found on Amazon by searching for "Diamond Needle File 100x3x2mm", sorry for the error RickHuf. The EURO TOOL files are a few dollars more than the Oudtinx.

I bought the EURO-TOOLs files after my disappointment with the "EZE-LAP" files, and I found them to be far superior to the EZE-LAP files I purchased. The diamond coating is fine and even, and they are narrower with finer points to get into smaller spaces. Like I said, I've been using them for many years (since August 2015), and I still haven't worn out my first set. They're still going strong.

EURO TOOL seems to be a legitimate US company with headquarters at 14101 Botts Rd, Grandview, Missouri, 64030. I looked at "Diamond Needle File 100x3x2mm", and Fakespot says the reviews are not fake.

 

[catspa]

Good work, glad it turned out well.

Parker