Can an old blade be cut down and reshaped?

N

naagren

Joined
Feb 6, 2008
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7
Can I take an old carbon steel blade of say 8" long and cut it down to a 3" or 4" blade with a hacksaw and files without damaging the temper of the blade?

I have such a kitchen knife that has a thin "whippy" end so it is no longer used. I thought I would try and reshape it into a paring knife.

Is this feasible idea? If so can anyone provide me with some tips? It is a thin blade of .05" at the spine and dates from the 40's or 50's. I have done nothing like this before but am keen to try my hand at modifing a blade. I started out sharpening knives with help from this forum and I am now getting more curious about blades.
 
Get hold of the knifemaker Fiddleback on the HI Cantina forum. I think he's the one who did a similar project with a big old butcher knife, cut it down to a nessmuk.
 
I don't know how successful you'll be with a hacksaw and file . However it certainly can be cut down or reshaped. I just did this on a 10" VG-10/damascus bread knife from www.agrussell.com I had no use for a serrated bread knife so I made a 8" slicer. I used a cut off wheel on a hand grinder and a bench grinder .Just go slow and dip in water to keep cool and you won't damage the HT.
 
The idea is completely feasible.

That sounds like a great deal of hard work with just a hacksaw and files. I would definitely use power tools and be careful not to get it too hot. Good luck with the project :)
 
i second the suggestion of power tools.

i often use the corners of a grinding stone on my bench grinder, but i started using the corners of an angle grinder wheel i mounted on the bench grinder...same effect.

dip in water often, every two-three seconds. or keep your fingers right behind where you are cutting. if it gets too how to hold, dip it.

but, if you have plenty of time and patience, you can probably do it with a fresh good quality hacksaw blade and some sharp files.
 
I frequently cut down old kitchen knives, but I may have more tools at my disposal than you have. Hardened blade steel is generally too hard to hack saw and is difficult to file. I like to use a small fiber and abrasive disk or a diamond coated disk in a Dremel. This quickly makes straight cuts across a blade. I usually just cut a deep groove where I want the cut and then snap off the steel rather than risk snagging the disk and throwing sharp steel around. Subsequently I shape and sharpen the blade with my table top belt sander.
 
My two cents.

Like Jeff Clark said, a saw or file won't do the trick , you'll wind up hurting yourself or the bending the blade trying to do anything to it since the knife is much harder than your hand tools.

If you do go the dremel route , I suggest the following.

Clean your blade so you can see your marking , mark it with a Sharpie on the areas you want to cut.

Use a vice to hold it steady , get yourself a small bowl of ice water and some paper towels.

Fold a paper towel into a long strip , wet it so it's dripping ice cold water, wrap that around the area behind where you are cutting.

The idea is to not let heat travel past the wet towel, even still go slow and check your uncut area with your finger , the rule of thumb is if it's too hot to touch you've probably hosed the temper.

Clean up your work with various grades of sand paper , maybe from 600 to 1500 depending on your tastes.

Post pics of what you did so we can see. :)
 
Gents,

Thanks for this useful information and encouragement. It has given me plenty to think about, particularly getting some sort of power tool. I'll practice on some other metal before I go at the knife. Hope to report back with pics some time down the track.
 
Another way is to soak a few layers of paper towel and clamp that between your bench and the blade.
 
Jeff Clark said:
I frequently cut down old kitchen knives, but I may have more tools at my disposal than you have. Hardened blade steel is generally too hard to hack saw and is difficult to file.
Click to expand...

Bimetal hacksaw blades can do it, but it's still slow. I'd recommend a cutoff wheel and a Dremel. Go slowly, dunk often, and finish with sandpaper.
 
That's how this was done...

l_340a4f1c6b37e8a942c189169f5887aa.jpg
 
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