Removing a Chip in an Otherwise Perfect Blade

B

BK14

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Sep 13, 2016
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So after some serious work and time on the Edge Pro, my Benchmade 940 got a serious edge overhaul. 19 DPS with a 21 DPS microbevel, I have even and shiny bevels all the way up to 1000 grit, then UF sharpmaker stones. Well somehow, I got a chip. A very tiny chip, but a chip. How do I remove this? I've never really had a problem with it, so do you have to start the sharpening all over? Just with a fine grit? Whole blade or just the one spot? Thanks so much! I don't know how it happened, I didn't even cut anything with it besides paper. Must have bumped something somehow.
 
You could just use it and keep it stropped / honed with appropriate superfine tools, and one day the chip will disappear. Does your chosen 4 degree microbevel look consistent accross chip?
 
What they said. A chip is painful and embarrassing but the best way is to let nature take it's course. Been there.
 
I usually grind down the chip to blend in with the countour of the edge and sharpen just that section before blending once again. If a chip occurs at the same location during subsequent use, then tearing has occurred and I grind the edge down beyond what is visibly chipped, blend, sharpen and take additional note of the area.
 
Thanks for the responses! It's a rarely carried knife for me, so it would take a long time for the edge to need a full resharpening. Maybe I'll just have to come up with some excuse to do lots of cutting!
 
No need for an excuse. Sometimes I will take the edge off of a blade and sharpen for no reason other than to have something to sharpen.
 
adamlau said:
No need for an excuse. Sometimes I will take the edge off of a blade and sharpen for no reason other than to have something to sharpen.
Click to expand...

Oh geez, now I know I'm not the only one who does this. :)

If it were my blade and the chip isn't drastically affecting your cutting performance I'd just live with it. But that's me, my knives are all users.
 
If the chip is actually a chip, i.e., a fragment of steel fractured out of the edge, as opposed to a dent (plastic deformation), I'd be inclined to sharpen it out as soon as possible. Actual chipping of brittle steel might lead to more cracking/chipping near the damaged area, if the damaged portion is stressed at all during use (snagging/catching/lateral stress by torqueing, etc). This sort of damage is akin to cracks spreading from a chip in your car's windshield, if the chip isn't repaired immediately.

On the other hand, if the damage is just an indentation (plastic deformation), there'll be little risk of additional damage spreading around it. In that case, I'd just use the knife for a while, and gradually sharpen it out over time.

Most edge damage often referred to as 'chipping' actually isn't, but instead is just a dent from an impact of some kind, as the vast majority of knives usually aren't hard enough or brittle enough to chip easily. If they do chip easily, that's usually a sign of a defect of some sort (heat treat, impurities/inclusions in the steel, etc).

Some years ago, I had a chip (fracture) in a Benchmade D2 blade's edge, near which I could actually SEE a crack propagating upward above the chipped area, examining it with a magnifier. I sharpened it out, as I would've otherwise worried about the crack spreading. In extreme cases, a crack spreading like that might eventually lead to a broken blade.


David
 
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Obsessed with Edges said:
If the chip is actually a chip, i.e., a fragment of steel fractured out of the edge, as opposed to a dent (plastic deformation), I'd be inclined to sharpen it out as soon as possible. Actual chipping of brittle steel might lead to more cracking/chipping near the damaged area, if the damaged portion is stressed at all during use (snagging/catching/lateral stress by torqueing, etc). This sort of damage is akin to cracks spreading from a chip in your car's windshield, if the chip isn't repaired immediately.

On the other hand, if the damage is just an indentation (plastic deformation), there'll be little risk of additional damage spreading around it. In that case, I'd just use the knife for a while, and gradually sharpen it out over time.

Most edge damage often referred to as 'chipping' actually isn't, but instead is just a dent from an impact of some kind, as the vast majority of knives usually aren't hard enough or brittle enough to chip easily. If they do chip easily, that's usually a sign of a defect of some sort (heat treat, impurities/inclusions in the steel, etc).

Some years ago, I had a chip (fracture) in a Benchmade D2 blade's edge, near which I could actually SEE a crack propagating upward above the chipped area, examining it with a magnifier. I sharpened it out, as I would've otherwise worried about the crack spreading. In extreme cases, a crack spreading like that might eventually lead to a broken blade.


David
Click to expand...
This is some good information! I would say that it is in fact a dent in the edge.
 
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