reprofiling a hardened blade?

M

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Jan 26, 2002
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i have an emerson a-100 folder, 154CM steel...the angle of the grind is too steep for my purposes. it's a "tactical" folder and a darn good one and i love the simplicity and basic shape, but for my outdoor/wilderness purposes i'd prefer a narrower flat grind...

i've never tried to grind a hardened blade - am i in for a major nightmare? i believe i have some trizac belts around here somewhere - is this reasonably doable? any tips, recommendations?
 
Very doable just take your time so it isn't overheated. For a folder doing it by hand I think is a better way. I use diamond sharpeners which will make things quick without any risk.
 
I tried to look at the knife on the internet and could not see a good pic, looks like a hollow grind about 1/2 way up the width. If it is a hollow grind you cannot go to a full flat since the middle is already thinner than a flat. If it is a flat grind to impove the angel the grind needs to be taken closer to the spine, that alot of work by hand with sand paper.

I guess the question is what are you trying to improve about the knife, the secondary bevel can be changed pretty easy with sand paper or diamond sharpeners this will allow for a thinner primary bevel in the edge is too thick but a full flat grind would be really tough without the proper machinery to prevent overheat of the edge.
 
A sharp 80 grit Blaze or other high-quality ceramic belt should do this just fine. Try it with a dull 120 or even a sharp 220 belt and you may begin to run into serious heat issues. A fresh, relatively coarse belt is usually the ticket for grinding hardened stuff without building heat quickly.Once you get the geometry you want I would switch to working by hand to finish it out.
 
If you're just talking about reprofiing the edge - go nuts.

If you're talking about changing the primary grinds - I'm pretty sure you're not going to like the results of your first attempt on a valued knife. It isn't easy to do well, and most folks require quite a bit of practice before doing a real knife. You might want to practice on a gas station knife or get someone like Tom Krein to do it for you.
 
Patrickknives said:
I tried to look at the knife on the internet and could not see a good pic, looks like a hollow grind about 1/2 way up the width. If it is a hollow grind you cannot go to a full flat since the middle is already thinner than a flat. If it is a flat grind to impove the angel the grind needs to be taken closer to the spine, that alot of work by hand with sand paper.

I guess the question is what are you trying to improve about the knife, the secondary bevel can be changed pretty easy with sand paper or diamond sharpeners this will allow for a thinner primary bevel in the edge is too thick but a full flat grind would be really tough without the proper machinery to prevent overheat of the edge.
Click to expand...

it's a flat grind going up a bit less than half way, maybe a bit over 3/8...(i guess it might be a hollow grind done a big wheel - hard to tell when you've only got about 3/8" of bevel...hard for me, anyway)...i'd like to take it up 7/8 or so...i don't expect it to look pretty, i just want it more functional...i've done some minor grinding on hardened simple carbon steel knives that i've forged so i'm not worried about overheating or anything - i know when to stop and quench cold water...i just don't know anything about these more complex alloys and was wondering if 154CPM is going to be a bitch to grind...

stock, it's a flat grind with a secondary bevel on only ONE side...i had a devil of a time just trying to put a secondary bevel on the opposite side with a diamond sharpener which is why i'm concerned about the difficulty of reprofiling the entire blade...

yeah, i know: why did i buy an expensive knife that i have to do so much work to to get it how i want it? i love the simple basic design, size and the overall blade shape - it's almost my definition of the perfect folder...except for the grind...
 
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i have done it 4 or 5 times, like posted above don't use a nice blade to start. Also use your bare hands or latex gloves so you can feel the heat generated it is very easy to get the metal too hot when using thick gloves.

MG
 
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