Best ways to round the spine and ease the choil?

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crlums

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Im looking to buy some knives that give me the best value. I've read several comments suggesting that buy high quality blades with lesser fit and finish, and then work on them to make improvements by rounding the spine and easing the choil. The Tanaka "light" from K&S currently has caught my eye but I'm not committed a particular knife at this point.

What are the best ways to do this on my own? Any sanding/grinding I do would have to be done by hand since I dont have access to a workshop. What sort of results can I reasonably expect if I commit some time to making improvements?
 
I usually use a bench vise, some sandpaper, and a cheap diamond file (a few dollars at most) to do most of my rounding. If I just want to ease the spine or choil, I'll clamp the knife with some protective cardboard and sand the knife with a shoe shiner's motion. If I really want it rounded, I'll start with the file to do most of the work and then sand it smooth. You can pretty dramatically improve the fit and finish of a knife with 15-30 minutes of work.
 
I pretty much do it the same way as you, Silky. This works well most of the time. One disclamer though: when rounding around the curve behind the heel of my Toyama suji the file somehow slipped and I made a handfull of chips in the first centimetres of the edge. A damn shame to do on a brand new knife.
- Kim
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I'll definitely give these methods a try once I pick the knife.
 
" Shoe shine " method with sandpaper. I'm afraid I do not have the guts/nor skill to put a file near a new blade.
 
crlums said:
Im looking to buy some knives that give me the best value. I've read several comments suggesting that buy high quality blades with lesser fit and finish, and then work on them to make improvements by rounding the spine and easing the choil. The Tanaka "light" from K&S currently has caught my eye but I'm not committed a particular knife at this point.

What are the best ways to do this on my own? Any sanding/grinding I do would have to be done by hand since I dont have access to a workshop. What sort of results can I reasonably expect if I commit some time to making improvements?
Click to expand...

Typically I use sandpaper and as others are saying the shoe shine method. If it is really bad I will use a round file and just a few light strokes. You know, those that come with burrs on the choil! Anyway, a few people who recently bought the Light version said that the spine and choil were comfortable out of the box. I assume they are eased and not rounded and for me, as a home cook, that is more than enough.

James has a hell of a price on his Tanaka knives. A few other vendors just raised their prices this week and they still have stock handles! Anyway, a Tanaka is a hell of a knife in general not just for its price point.
 
Lots of good advise here. Use files, 3m we/dry, and scotchbrite.
If its a fully hardened monosteel, abrasives only for shaping (stone, diamond, sandpaper).

In general, just use what is most easily available and learn
how to use what you have correctly.

Many ways to de-burr an edge (which is all this is)
 
Benuser said:
I do it on a coarse stone, same motions as with normal sharpening. At a much higher angle, of course.
Click to expand...

I've done this method when I had to round off a lot of tough metal. I took a 300 grit stone and put the knife on the stone like I was sharpening the spine. Started at a 30 degree angle and gradually kept with the sharpening motions until it was 90 degrees to the stone. Then did the other side. Last, I smoothed it over with some fine sandpaper. It's a little dangerous since the edge is in the air, just be careful not to slip.
 
I'm too lazy to even use the shoe shine method. I just hold the knife in one hand and use a sawing motion with a file. I do shoe shine with sand paper.
 
Benuser said:
No.
Click to expand...

LOL. You guys must be fun at parties.

Relieving (chamfering) a 90* unfinished edge is commonly referred to as de-burring.

Here: >https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamfer
Here: >http://www.google.com/search?q=deburring+tool
Here: >[video=youtube;0feWN6hIH2w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0feWN6hIH2w[/video]

etc.

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamfer#/media/File:PCBChamfer.PNG

This is the transitional phase before rounding.
Basically smarter method than putting a soft stone or sandpaper directly on a 90* square edge.
 
I have a cheapo Chinese Dremel tool from Fasttech with one of the many grinding heads. followed by wet and dry. Gets the job done on cheap knives. I might go for a bit more refinement if i was doing a pricey knife, but it works well enough on CCK cleavers and Thai knives.
 
HRC_64 said:
Is english your first language?
Click to expand...
Why does that matter... and sorry but chamfering and de-burring are nowhere near similar.

Consider a burr is a technical term, de-burring purely meaning removing the burr.

Chamfering is to removing a corner by "slicing" off the corner to create a bevelled face. Typically done at 45 degrees but can by any angles.

In no way the same.
 
You need a vice. You can get the clamp on table kind. Back sandpaper with duck tape & cut into strips. Use shoeshine method.
 
Two guys in a hot-air balloon near Seattle encounter some dense fog and quickly become lost. After several minutes of panic, they find themselves floating next to a large building where they can see a guy in his office, sitting at his desk.

They frantically get his attention, and shout “WHERE ARE WE?"

The officeworker grabs a sheet of paper off his desk, scribbles quickly, and holds up his response: "YOU ARE IN A HOT-AIR BALLOON."

One guy looks at the other and says, “I know where we are! We’re at Microsoft!”

“How do you know?” says the second guy.

“His answer was technically correct, but totally useless.”.
 
Communicating clearly-- being literally correct, and idiomatically correct, and technically correct-- is usually a good starting point if you're going to be a wise ass. Otherwise you just look like an ass...and none the wiser.
 
Rounding or easing a spine is in no way deburring an edge.

A burr in relation to our little knife world is defined as:

a rough edge or ridge left on an object (especially of metal) by the action of a tool or machine.

Chamfer is defined as:

in carpentry, cut away (a right-angled edge or corner) to make a symmetrical sloping edge.

And:

a symmetrical sloping surface at an edge or corner.

Deburring is when you remove that excess material that has been pushed over the other side of the edge.

While rounding or chamfering there is no excess material curled over the edge. It's just a 90 degree angle that needs to be chopped down.

The techniques for solving both scenarios are in no way similar. With deburring you simply pull the blade in an edge trailing motion along a medium like leather or felt until the burr is pulled off the edge and is stripped away.

With rounding/easing I use a Harbour Freight 1 x 30 belt sander with a progression of belts. I'll grind the edges off at a bit lower than a 45 degree angle. Then I work my way from handle to tip, lift up the angle make another pass and continue this way until I make my way up and over the spine through to the other side. When I have enough material removed I move up in grit until I get the polish I desire. Usually a satin finish. This takes less than 5 minutes and usually only takes 2 belts to accomplish.
 
HRC_64 said:
Communicating clearly-- being literally correct, and idiomatically correct, and technically correct-- is usually a good starting point if you're going to be a wise ass. Otherwise you just look like an ass...and none the wiser.
Click to expand...
So far you have been none of them in any of your comments so I fail to see their relevance to this discussion.

And I'm still waiting for you to somehow tell me how I was wrong on your grit discussion let alone this topic.
 
malexthekid said:
So far you have been none of them in any of your comments so I fail to see their relevance to this discussion.
Click to expand...

This is called argument from ignorance.
As in "I don't understand topic X, therefore I'm an expert."

Its more excusable from Benuser,
being that he's not a native english speaker.

But given that Australian also isn't a language,
you might want to be careful here.

Extrapolating from (what may be) a regional dialect
and smart-mouthing
people over the internet gets old
pretty fast.

And winning fights about the correct use of the
english language with people who don't speak it
either natively or technically, is both

1) a waste of time; and
2) disrespectful to the OP

(whose thread ya'll are crapping up).
 
HRC_64 said:
This is called argument from ignorance.
As in "I don't understand topic X, therefore I'm an expert."

Its more excusable from Benuser,
being that he's not a native english speaker.

But given that Australian also isn't a language,
you might want to be careful here.

Extrapolating from (what may be) a regional dialect
and smart-mouthing
people over the internet gets old
pretty fast.

And winning fights about the correct use of the
english language with people who don't speak it
either natively or technically, is both

1) a waste of time; and
2) disrespectful to the OP

(whose thread ya'll are crapping up).
Click to expand...
Who ever said I don't understand, I merely asked you to prove you assertion that I am incorrect.

In the scientific world, evidence is required to disprove someone, not the other way. Perhaps you should start with what a burr is, technically, and then work back through to chamfering.

I'll just wait here to be "proven" wrong. Since I'm still waiting from the last thread. I'll take a punt that I should check back in in a month or so?

Also what is disrespectful to the OP is spouting misinformation and opinion as fact and then name calling/insinuating other members lack an understanding of language when they are correcting your opinion.
 
HRC_64 said:
---
Click to expand...
I appreciate your attempts to disparage me through insult but unfortunately I'm used to people with wit and you really are just failing.

So noting that, I'd appreciate some of your superior understanding of the English language to explain your superiority on this, and other topics.

Note: Admins sorry I'm being an a$$ apologies and feel free to delete my posts if they are not seen as appropriate.
 
ThEoRy said:
Rounding or easing a spine is in no way deburring an edge.
Click to expand...

Theory, I think you are making a simple mistake here with this formulation.
A 90* angle on a piece of metal (as on a spine of a knife) is by definition an 'edge' (geometric edge).

[edit:I'm not sure if you've actually read through this thread but this has already been discussed.]

That's not me being dismissive, its just to avoid repetition.
There are citations and examples if you care to look into it further.

Good examples of very sharp geometric 90* edges are on alpine skis.
Very easily capable of causing grievous bodily harm as well as cutting blue ice.

And yes, they are commonly de-burred (as are many, many other 90* un-finished edges)
 
malexthekid said:
Note: Admins sorry I'm being an a$$ apologies and feel free to delete my posts if they are not seen as appropriate.
Click to expand...

Mate you are being an A$$, and I suggest you consult a dictionary before shitting up the thread any more.
 
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