What are your tools of the trade? What do you use to modify your knives?

[Shainerobert]

I'm looking to modify some knifes and would like to have the proper tools to do so.What tools do you use to sharpen blades, grind new edges, polish and make alterations to your knife?

My situation: I am waiting on a new BK7 and would like to strip the coating/ sand and polish the blade, round out some of the steel on the handle to fit a custom wooden handle and possibly modify it to a clip point and add a choil. I have experience with power tools and wood working tools, not to a high level, but I love tinkering.

Any pictures and descriptions of your workshop/ sharpeners/ hand tools would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the help,

Shaine

 

[Ebbtide]

While I am no expert, I do know that power tools allow me to make my mistakes much faster
When I stripped the coating off of my CS Recon Scout I used paint stripper and then started sanding with 220 grit and worked my way up thru the grits up to 1000 wet and dry.
Hand sanding tutorial (and more)
http://beknivessite2.homestead.com/guard.html

Files are your friend.
New sharp ones especially.

Enjoy the doing and the results will (eventually) come.

Hope that helps.

 

[killgar]

I made the sharpening choil on this knife using a Dremel and a grinding attachment the same diameter as the choil I wanted. It worked great. But you need to secure the blade in a vise and have a steady hand.

The same knife also had a large lanyard loop. Basically an extension of the tang with a large hole in it. I used a Dremel with a cutting wheel to cut off the loop, and a grinding attachment to smooth it out.

I don't know what steel the BK7 is made of, but if it's really hard stuff you won't be able to cut or file it with standard files or a hacksaw. My knife below was made of very hard D2. If your blade is really hard, diamond files might be your best bet to re-shape the blade. Of course, a table belt or disc sander would make the job a lot easier.

I also re-ground the edge on this knife. It had a somewhat steep edge grind and I wanted the edge finer. I had to remove a lot of steel. I used an extra coarse DMT diamond hone and it took a solid two days to get the job done.

 

[Phydeaux]

I use a wide range of tools. For major reprofiling (making a damaged Buck 110 into a drop point), I use a 2 x 72 grinder. If need be, I use a hack saw or Dremel to trim off big pieces of steel first. Always keep the blade sufficiently cool by frequently dipping in water. Files, lots of sand paper, Foredom flex shaft (much more controllable than my Dremel), lots of patients.

Your wood working skills will come in handy when you make some custom scales.

I like dabbling wood working a lot too. It was my primary hobby before getting bit by the knife bug.

some of my favorite woods:

hard maple
black walnut
Lignum vitae
osage orange
olive
ebony

One more thing... Welcome to BladeForums!

Ric

 

[orezona]

Different sized Bastard files, miniature hobby file set, many degrees of sandpaper (220 regular and wet/dry 440, 600, 800, 1600 and 2000 grit), small 6" bench vice, Dremel tool, cheap 10x magnifying loop with LED light, mineral oil, Lansky sharpening rod set up ($30 kit), honing oil, and constantly using these forums for tutorials, ideas, inspiration and learning from other's experiences/mistakes.

Good luck!