Need tips on hammering a bent tip back

ehhh

ehhh

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Feb 4, 2006
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Well, the search isn't working for me if I put in 2 words like "hammer tip" or "bent tip," so I guess I'll have to ask a question that I'm sure has been answered.

What's the safest way to hammer a bent tip back? I just received an old user Cold Steel El Hombre (looks like a vaquero, but not serrated), and it feels like it's going to make a great user. Problem is, the first 4-5mm of tip is bent ~10 degrees to the left. I could just leave it since it doesn't really matter, but I'd rather fix it anyways. I've tried laying the blade flat on a wooden desk and hammering it down with the sole of my boots, but the rubber must be too soft or something, because I've made little or no progress. I don't have any rubber mallets, so I can't do that. Should I just keep on hitting it with my boot? should I lay the blade completely flat or support only the tip area? Any tips will be much appreciated, thanks!
-Jon

PS Would leaving it be a better choice? I don't want to really risk the tip coming right off from all the stress. I assume it's AUS-8 steel.
 
bend it with pliers or a crescent wrench, but I don't think it's going to be too well off from now on.
 
Do you think it might just pop the tip off? If theres a decent chance of that happening I'd rather just leave it as it is. I don't foresee myself using it to stab anything hard anyways so if it's bent, it's bent. I just don't like seeing bent tips :grumpy:
Thanks for the reply.
 
I give it 50/50 the tips gonna break right off. I'm like you though, I wouldn't be able to leave it alone. I'd try straightening it out in a vise myself (or pliers like hardheart suggested), and if it broke, I'd just regrind the blade's top edge to blend it in. I'm a knifemaker/tinkerer though, and that's what I do. What tools do you have available?
Scott
 
I would think you could put it on an anvil, heat it slowly with acetylene (or even slower with oxy-acetylene), put an old piece of heavy leather over it, and gently pound on it with a hammer. I don;t know how the heat treat/annealing makeup of the knife would be affected.... probably not too much since you wouldn;t be heating it up red hot.

Just a thought.....

This might be a good one to ask about in the knife-makers forums. Seems like they might have an idea. Ahhh......after posting I see Scottang has replied....
 
Don't just use a O/A torch. You would be more successfull if the tip were heated to 400 F. Bending cold will probably break the tip. If you had Sn-Ag solder -it melts about 400 F - dip the tip in the solder and bent while hot. A torch would probably ruin the HT of the blade.
 
I'm a college student and I'm at school now so my tools are VERY limited. I don't have a pair of pliers, though one of my housemates might. I knew I should have brought my needlenose pliers from home :rolleyes:

I certainly don't have anything to heat the tip to 400 degrees whether at home or at school, since I'm sure sticking a zytel handled folder into an oven would be a baaaad idea. I did pry it a bit in my doorframe though, and it looks like I got it a little straighter, though far from straight at all. Cut myself in the process too, oops :foot: Only thing I have to regrind is a sharpmaker, so I'm gonna leave it alone for now, cuz I'd rather have a bent tip than no tip :D
The solder idea is interesting though, and maybe in the future after I beat it up some more, I'll try it. The closest I could get to getting the tip heated without really ruining anything else on the knife is to run it under very hot water and trying it. Right now, it's still got a lot of mileage to go, so I'd hate to ruin it accidentally.

Thanks for all the replies, you guys stopped me from possibly making a decision I may have regretted...
 
got any cooking oil, put it in the oven at 400 or keep a close eye on it on the stovetop-then dip the knife in it for a bit to get the temp up. Careful with the doorframe, but I was gonna suggest a desk drawer for the same anyway...
 
If you break the tip off, you could always have the tip reprofiled to give you a new tip. In fact, that might be preferable to having a bent tip, a tip that's been bent back (and thus weakened), or any annealing.
 
The CS El Hombre is made of AUS 8A stainless steel, as noted at knifecenter.com. I suspect it will break before it straightens out via hammering.

If you have the equipment and experience to anneal the stainless steel, straighten the tip, re-heat-treat the blade, then reassemble the knife, it may be in the realm of feasibility to fix this knife. However, for a $32 dollar knife is it really worth the time and effort to fix it instead of just buy a new one?

A good place to ask this question might be among the knifemakers who hang out over at the Shoptalk Forum here on BFC.
 
The heat won't help much, if at all. Just bend it back to shape. You will have to bend it further in the opposite direction than the original bend. If the tip breaks, it can be REPROFILED (the proper use of the term.)
Bill
 
Any significant heat is going to hose your entire blade.

Why not file/stone it off and make a new tip ?

That's what I would do.
 
I tried bending it between two drawers after running it under some hot water just so it isn't very cold and all it did was put dents in the drawers. I'm sure pliers would work better because they won't dent, but I don't have that right now
I definitely don't want to reprofile the tip with a sharpmaker, or anything less than a belt sander because I'm sure it'll be slow without one.

While it is disappointing and I can't stand looking at a bent tip, I did buy the knife as a user, so I don't think the bent tip will be much of a problem. Doesn't look like the type of knife that's been designed to stab much anyways, not that I can think of many utility uses that involve hard stabbing. It's just some character left by the previous owner. It's already got a couple of dents in the spine from who knows what, so it's not like straightening the tip out will make it look like new.

But in the future when the thing is falling apart, I'll probably try some of your suggestions just for fun.
 
I just sharpened my roommate's ice auger blades with a $5 dremel tool my neighbor had. Ask around and you'll be suprised how well tooled a dorm can be! Myself I have a pretty decent tool bag with drivers, wrenches, a hammer, pliers and all sorts of goodies in it.


This may be a signb its time for you to invest in a good multitool. I'm used the pliers and/or file on my old gerber tool to fix the tip on a couple of CCC fixed blades I like to throw... You can smooth up the file marks on the sharpmaker afterwards too.
 
Buck268 said:
I just sharpened my roommate's ice auger blades with a $5 dremel tool my neighbor had. Ask around and you'll be suprised how well tooled a dorm can be! Myself I have a pretty decent tool bag with drivers, wrenches, a hammer, pliers and all sorts of goodies in it.


This may be a signb its time for you to invest in a good multitool. I'm used the pliers and/or file on my old gerber tool to fix the tip on a couple of CCC fixed blades I like to throw... You can smooth up the file marks on the sharpmaker afterwards too.
Click to expand...
You're right, I do need a good multitool. I was looking around for one and some leatherman's caught my eye but the larger ones are all fairly pricey. I think it's time I invested in one though :thumbup:
 
I would just leave it alone if you can't find anything to properly fix it. More than likely using desk drawers and door frames will only cause self-injury (lol) or break your blade.

If it bugs you that much, jsut snap it already. I was upset for about 2 minutes after I snapped the tip off my Buck, then I got over it. Still a very sharp and usable knife, I never used it to stab anyways. I COULD reprofile it and make i pretty again,,,,but then I'd be afraid of screwing it up all over again. I'm gonna keep it just like it is.
 
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