Protruding heel/how to fix?

[shankster]

Question..My Kasumi VG10 SS santoku's heel is protruding(overgrind?),what's the best way to fix this problem? I have a DMT xxc,1000gt and 6000grt stones.Should I start removing metal on the xxc or the 1000grt?
Any suggestions are appreciated.

thanks
PK

 

[Dave Martell]

Hi PK,
If the sides of the knife aren't overground down into the edge then this is a simple fix. Using a course stone aim the heal (by itself) at the stone and grind until flush with the rest of the edge. I prefer to do this from both sides equally at say 45 deg versus 90deg so that there's not so much work needed after when sharpening. Then blend it into the edge bevel at the appropriate angle.

If the sides are overground then you may be screwed.

Dave

 

[shankster]

Thanks Dave!! So,use my 1000grt not the xxc diamond plate,yes?

Thanks again.I'll give it a shot.

 

[Dave Martell]

Thanks Dave!! So,use my 1000grt not the xxc diamond plate,yes?

Thanks again.I'll give it a shot.

This would depend on how bad the fix is. If you think the 1k will take forever then hit the XX and then the 1k.

 

[shankster]

Excellent! Much appreciated.

 

[tk59]

This might also be an underground heel, as opposed to an overground section just in front of the heel (which is a bigger problem). The fix is the same but your bevel will end up larger at the heel than in front of the heel since the knife is thicker at that point.

 

[shankster]

Is there any way to tell the difference between the 2 issues(over/under grind),or does it really matter at this point?

 

[SpikeC]

You can always grind more off, butt grinding more on can be problematical!

 

[Eamon Burke]

Is there any way to tell the difference between the 2 issues(over/under grind),or does it really matter at this point?

If it's an underground heel, you won't have noticed a problem until you sharpen it up a few times, and it doesn't behave the same way. You can also see if anyone has a micrometer you can use, and just check it. You should just thin behind the edge on an underground heel that exposes itself. If you try to fix an underground heel on a new knife, your efforts will screw up the area in front of the undergrind, and possibly cause a new hole. This happened to me in the past. Twice. You'll notice it if you put the new blade on a flat stone, and abrade, and the heel doesn't match the same angle, and you are abrading the shoulder and have trouble raising a burr just in front of it...its an easy problem to overlook when sharpening on a belt sander, because it's easy to focus on the desired edge and ignore the steel behind it.

If you did sharpen out an undergrind, you are in luck, because you can just grind it down as Dave said, and thin behind it, and it'll we fine.

If the heel is overground, fixing it would basically be like making a shorter, thinner knife out of the one you have, from stock that isn't straight.