Shindo project

[rgar4012]

Hi Everyone,

Have this Shindo I picked up a while back.

I'd heard some good things, and from a few testcuts I will say the price/performance is solid. With that said, I had originally picked it up as a project knife.

I'd like to:
1. Round and polish the spine and choil.
2. Remove the bead blasted finish, and re-finish it.
3. Fit a handle.

Any recommendations on how best to go about step 1? My first thought was toss it in a vice and then get a thin strip of sandpaper, pulling it side to side while moving down the length of the spice and the choil.

Does anybody see any issues with the plan to polish off the bead blasted finish and try for a nice kasumi? I imagine it would be a light thinning while hoping to resolve any low spots, then a standard polishing should leave a nice difference between the core and cladding. It's properly thin bte, so "thinning" is really more about making sure it's flat and removing the current finish.

Thanks

 

[Rockchop]

They kinda look cool if you keep the spine geometry as it is. Trying to round such a wabi sabi spine can end up looking a little more wabi sabi. Progressively sand the spine flat to satin finish and chamfer the edge to high polish for contrast. Choil you can do the same by wrapping strip of paper round a pencil. Twist whilst coming round the choil with some pressure. Cladding V soft so be aware that it will disappear way faster than the core when you chamfer.
Bevels can bite you on these due to kind of S grind but if you keep pressure towards shinogi and leave core till last (wrong way round really) this will eradicate over thinning. Approach with caution though, not too high as you'll end up going over the hill into the hira. The cladding is very Kasumi friendly. Great knives! Enjoy

 

[deltaplex]

Hi Everyone,

Have this Shindo I picked up a while back.
View attachment 348123
I'd heard some good things, and from a few testcuts I will say the price/performance is solid. With that said, I had originally picked it up as a project knife.

I'd like to:
1. Round and polish the spine and choil.
2. Remove the bead blasted finish, and re-finish it.
3. Fit a handle.

Any recommendations on how best to go about step 1? My first thought was toss it in a vice and then get a thin strip of sandpaper, pulling it side to side while moving down the length of the spice and the choil.

Does anybody see any issues with the plan to polish off the bead blasted finish and try for a nice kasumi? I imagine it would be a light thinning while hoping to resolve any low spots, then a standard polishing should leave a nice difference between the core and cladding. It's properly thin bte, so "thinning" is really more about making sure it's flat and removing the current finish.
View attachment 348124
Thanks

The rounding plan sounds solid, the paper tends to crack a decent amount less if you use a similarly sized piece of cloth as a "backing" for the strips of paper.

As far as removing the media blast finish goes: I think the only way to do it without re-grinding the whole knife is with flexible abrasives to conform to the concave shape of the primary bevel. So some combination of: sandpaper with flexible backing, pastes, powders, fingerstones, etc. Any attempt to even run the bevel to flat is going to significantly alter how the knife performs since the shoulders, the height, or both are going to be impacted.

 

[OkayMode]

the paper tends to crack a decent amount less if you use a similarly sized piece of cloth as a "backing" for the strips of paper.

I sometimes back my sandpaper with duct tape for the same effect

I personally wouldn’t bother trying to refinish the bevels, but if I did I’d follow the advice above on flexible abrasives at first, and then move to bench finishes over time after subsequent thinning.

You could probably get a good result using a rig like in the first few seconds of this reel:



Good luck!

 

[Yoshi]

First of all, welcome to the cult brother.

For the choil, if you have a Dremel you can get it done in less than 2 minutes.

 

[deltaplex]

I sometimes back my sandpaper with duct tape for the same effect

I personally wouldn’t bother trying to refinish the bevels, but if I did I’d follow the advice above on flexible abrasives at first, and then move to bench finishes over time after subsequent thinning.

You could probably get a good result using a rig like in the first few seconds of this reel:



Good luck!

Right, yes, convexed stones can also work.

 

[rgar4012]

First of all, welcome to the cult brother.

For the choil, if you have a Dremel you can get it done in less than 2 minutes.

I do, you use the little sandpaper wheels? Use a bit like this? Also, how likely am I to ruin it if I'm not a master with the dremel?

 

[tostadas]

If careful with the dremel, it will speed up the work greatly. If the dremel slips and scuffs the blade, then the touch up will become more substantial. It's not that hard tho, just go easy til you have a feel for it.

 

[Yoshi]

I do, you use the little sandpaper wheels? Use a bit like this? Also, how likely am I to ruin it if I'm not a master with the dremel?

I use the small diamond tip for better control. Use lower rev first to get a feel of the feedback, and speed up when you feel more comfortable. It's really not that hard.

 

[Martyfish]

I pretty frequently round spines and choils and my go-to method currently is using a hand held woodworking belt sander mounted in a support fixture followed by sandpaper with a shoe shining motion. If you have a belt sander available, you just need to place the spine or choil in contact with the belt and manouver it around until you have a nice radius. Here are some pictures from my most recent project:

If you don't have access to suitable power tools, no issue, they just speed up the process, but everything can still be done by hand. If you want a large radius, then starting the rounding with a file followed by strips of sandpaper and a shoe shining motion will give good results. Please note that the coarser the file / sandpaper, the quicker the rate of material removal, however it can also be more painful to remove the scratches if you want a nice polish, so the progression of abrasives is also something to consider. If you just want a small radius, then sandpaper and a shoe shining motion will get the job done. High quality sandpaper makes a big difference, so I'd advise to pay the extra money to save some time. Rhynowet is great and I also have good experience with 3M microfinishing film.

I have an entire thread that's pretty much dedicated to the 3 things that you want to modify, which I have linked below in the event that you are interested:

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...thinning-refinishing-and-handle-making.68639/