Is this going to be a legit knife

I

IXGraves

Joined
Apr 23, 2025
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I'm a new knife maker and trying to hone my grinding skills before I dump a lot of money into this craft. I've been taking old chef's knives and reshaping them into edc fixed blades. Just wondering if it is still legit enough to even be a edc knife. Im going this route to avoid heat treatment equipment. I figured keeping the steel cool while grinding the bevels will keep it hard. I really just need to know if I'm wasting my time.
 
IXGraves said:
I'm a new knife maker and trying to hone my grinding skills before I dump a lot of money into this craft. I've been taking old chef's knives and reshaping them into edc fixed blades. Just wondering if it is still legit enough to even be a edc knife. Im going this route to avoid heat treatment equipment. I figured keeping the steel cool while grinding the bevels will keep it hard. I really just need to know if I'm wasting my time.
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Any attempt is a valid attempt. Starting off small is a wise thing to do. Repurposing old knives and saw blades is an age honored tradition.

Make sure to post in the Shop Talk forum to get excellent advice from follow knife makers. https://www.bladeforums.com/forums/shop-talk-bladesmith-questions-and-answers.741/
 
It's not a waste of your time if you learn something from it. Please post pics of what you come up with, other members have similarly re-ground old chef's knives into some spectacularly creative a knives:

T

Post in thread 'Gaucho knives and cuchillos criollos of South America'

Finally done with this project I had been working on for a while for a friend's (belated) birthday:

PsTRZka.jpg


Originally I was going to use a Mundial (Brazil) blade, but in the end I decided on an old (1980 or so) Henckels blade I had lying around, which was thicker and had a longer bolster, which I figured I'd turn into a botón oriental, after seeing how nice the combination with antler looked in @RayseM 's knife.
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As already mentioned, learning is never a waste.
My concern with turning chef's knives into EDCs would be that chef's knives tend to be awfully thin for some tasks that edcs might be called upon to do, such as prying things open. But as long as the user is aware, then not a problem.
 
Welcome to Shop Talk, IXGraves. Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you.

Also, avoid getting the blade hotter than you can hold between your fingers. If it gets too hot it will ruin the temper.

Tell us a bit about how you are reshaping the blades. What equipment, tools, etc.
 
IXGraves said:
I'm a new knife maker and trying to hone my grinding skills before I dump a lot of money into this craft. I've been taking old chef's knives and reshaping them into edc fixed blades. Just wondering if it is still legit enough to even be a edc knife. Im going this route to avoid heat treatment equipment. I figured keeping the steel cool while grinding the bevels will keep it hard. I really just need to know if I'm wasting my time.
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I'm also learning to make knives. I had a friend teach me and work with me on 2 complete knives. I have now profiled 6 sent them to Paul Boss heat treat and have ground 3 and ready to put scales on. I did this with bar stock removal. Its what I want to do in my retirement to supplement a little income. Every blade I put to the grinder is better than the last. I bought a used KMG grinder but have been so busy at work that I haven't set it up yet. It doesn't help I work out of town so when I go home got stuff to do. Very enjoyable. Next time I profile and send to heat treat it will be 19 blades as its the same price as 6.
 
weo said:
As already mentioned, learning is never a waste.
My concern with turning chef's knives into EDCs would be that chef's knives tend to be awfully thin for some tasks that edcs might be called upon to do, such as prying things open. But as long as the user is aware, then not a problem.
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He could always grinder a larger pry bar into a smaller pry bar if he needs to pry something.... :D

I've ground some larger blades into smaller blades a couple of times. It's even fun to reprofile certain designs, like adding a clip, or turning a chef knife into more of a K tip style for instance.
As others have stated, just make sure to keep the blade cool. If it changes colors, the temper is ruined. If you're using a belt grinder, use fresh belts, and dunk often. If you can set up a misting spray for the belt, even better.
 
I am dabbling in full knife making, but got started doing simple re-handles on new and vintage kitchen knives. Then before moving to full blade manufacture I took some of those knives and used the existing bevels to thin the edge down for better performance. Great practice and much learning without having to do heat treating or massive stock removal. Great way to learn to follow a bevel and manage blade heat.
Here is a quick example of 3 knives that got new handles and thinned bevels. The top 2 were thinned on a stone and the bottom was thinned on a 1x30 sander. Great way to breath new life into these knives and enhance performance significantly.
https://imgur.com/yDWDOvR
 
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