Is there a knack to bringing back a fine point to clip blade?

[sunandsteel]

It seems my clip point blade tip has rounded off ever so slightly and I'd like to bring the fine tip back. Is there anything special I should be doing?
Can I bring it back on a Sharpmaker?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Just lay a sheet of medium-grit wet/dry sandpaper on a hard, flat and smooth surface (glass, stone, etc), and lay the spine-side of the tip flush to it, or as near-flush as possible, if it's an upturned tip. Draw the tip backward, so the tip is trailing, across the sandpaper in a smooth and controlled motion, keeping the spine as low to the paper as you can. Inspect the tip with a good magnifier after a few strokes (~3-5 or so), to see how the tip is shaping up. You can test the tip by piercing through some paper or whatever. Tips that are only slightly rounded off won't need much work; some 400-800 grit paper should do it pretty easily.

The Sharpmaker might be able to fix it, if the rounding is minimal. Otherwise, it may take a long time to sharpen it up again. I recommend the sandpaper because it provides a large working surface, which lends itself well to keeping the strokes very even and productive (and it's cheap and easily available; that's the best part ).


David

 

[FTR-14c]

Taking a tiny bit off the spine just above the tip does the trick for me.

I quit trying to chase it on the edge side to minimize lost blade length.

Also, when taking material from the edge to repair a tip you will be removing the thinnest part of your grind and working toward the thicker stock.

You will be left with a thicker tip and slightly shorter blade.

This has been my experience, I am open for other suggestions.

 

[sunandsteel]

Just lay a sheet of medium-grit wet/dry sandpaper on a hard, flat and smooth surface (glass, stone, etc), and lay the spine-side of the tip flush to it, or as near-flush as possible, if it's an upturned tip. Draw the tip backward, so the tip is trailing, across the sandpaper in a smooth and controlled motion, keeping the spine as low to the paper as you can. Inspect the tip with a good magnifier after a few strokes (~3-5 or so), to see how the tip is shaping up. You can test the tip by piercing through some paper or whatever. Tips that are only slightly rounded off won't need much work; some 400-800 grit paper should do it pretty easily.

The Sharpmaker might be able to fix it, if the rounding is minimal. Otherwise, it may take a long time to sharpen it up again. I recommend the sandpaper because it provides a large working surface, which lends itself well to keeping the strokes very even and productive (and it's cheap and easily available; that's the best part ).


David

Thanks I'm going to try it out with 400 grit on a flat board. So basically I'm flipping the knife over and laying it on the sand paper not flat but off the paper a little, and drawing the tip back towards me?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Thanks I'm going to try it out with 400 grit on a flat board. So basically I'm flipping the knife over and laying it on the sand paper not flat but off the paper a little, and drawing the tip back towards me?

That's it, in a nutshell. Depending on the shape of your clip point, you may want or need to lift the spine just a bit, and keep the tip in contact. A clip point with a dead-flat spine between the tip and the 'hump' of the clip could be laid flush to the paper. Most clip points will have a slight inward curvature in that section, which necessitates lifting the 'hump' of the clip off the paper, else it would be flattened by the sanding. Keep it as low as possible, so the point at the tip won't be too wide or blunt.

A tip:
Use a wine cork, rubber eraser, piece of soft wood or any other similar object pressed onto the upward-facing cutting edge, as a leverage point for a place to put your finger. Makes it easier to steady the blade as you draw the tip across the paper. Folding blades (non-locking) may try to pivot closed, if something isn't used to hold it.


David

 

[sunandsteel]

I wish I could focus better, and it probably doesn't look like anything at all but here's what it looks like.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Is that a PM, or PM2? If so (I'm comparing to my PM), I think the spine on that blade should be dead-flat, all the way from the hole in the blade to the tip. If so, should be able to just lay the spine flush on the paper to sharpen up the tip. That would keep everything looking like the original factory profile. Because you'll be sanding the full length of the spine, it'll take longer, but the end result would look cleaner. You can lift the spine a bit to focus only on the tip, if you want to; that'll speed up the process, but will leave a bit of a 'drop' in the spine, near the tip.


David

 

[sunandsteel]

Is that a PM, or PM2? If so (I'm comparing to my PM), I think the spine on that blade should be dead-flat, all the way from the hole in the blade to the tip. If so, should be able to just lay the spine flush on the paper to sharpen up the tip. That would keep everything looking like the original factory profile. Because you'll be sanding the full length of the spine, it'll take longer, but the end result would look cleaner. You can lift the spine a bit to focus only on the tip, if you want to; that'll speed up the process, but will leave a bit of a 'drop' in the spine, near the tip.


David

Yes it's a PM2. So I'll leave the spine flush against the 400 grit. Will this do anything to the rest of the spine?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

Yes it's a PM2. So I'll leave the spine flush against the 400 grit. Will this do anything to the rest of the spine?

It will leave the 400-grit finish on any part of the spine in contact with the paper. So long as you keep the stroke steady and straight, it should come out looking clean. It's just a matter of whether you'd like to keep the dead-straight lines intact, all the way to the tip. Keeping the spine flush to the paper would do that for you; otherwise, lifting the rearward portion of the spine away from the paper will tend to make the spine at the tip drop a little below that dead-flat plane, while sharpening up the point.


David