Spine softening

[chicante]

Any advice on a quick and easy way to round off sharp spines at the pinch grip? I only need to do one side, and aesthetics are no concern. My callous is about to tear, and I hate wearing gloves. Thanks for any input.

 

[nevrknow]

Sandpaper. Use it like shining shoes with a towel. Quick and easy.

 

[Nemo]

Use wet and dry sandpaper but use it wet.

Don't cut yourself. Sounds obvious but it's still easy to do.

 

[TB_London]

Shoe shine method is easiest, without a clamp wedging the knife in a book means you can leave some of the spine out but cover most of the edge. If you’re using paper rather than cloth backed sheets stick some tape to the back of it and it’ll stop it tearing, which’ll want to do- believe me.

If aesthetics matter you can also put tape on the sides of the knife to avoid any errant scratches while you’re doing it

 

[Daizone]

Tape the edge to help with accidental cuts? I would imagine if you needed to do some work on the choil it would be similar too.

 

[chicante]

Sweet! Found some sandpaper in the supplies, and used the gap between the cutting board and cold table with some added paper towels, as a clamp, and it was easy.
Thanks! I'm allergic to latex, it just makes me itch like crazy all over, so y'all saved me a ton of discomfort, on top of injury.

 

[Corradobrit1]

Use nitrile gloves if you have latex sensitivity. Also taping is recommended to prevent cuts, just be sure to carefully remove all the adhesive as it can cause pitting on reactive steels, particularly mild steel used for cladding on san mai. Similarly use dry hands. Any moisture trapped under the tape and left will result in rust.

 

[captaincaed]

I get a cheapo 100 grit stone (I think I have a Suehiro) and go to town for the rough work. Bang for the buck is great if you'll do this for multiple knives. Stones are designed to cut knives, right?

Polish up with another cheap higher grit stone or use sandpaper with a block (or you can wrap some around a wine cork, especially for choil work)

 

[Benuser]

Very convenient,

 

[Keith Sinclair]

You can get a small portable vise that çlamps on to a table. Having a vise handy is good for many things.

 

[krx927]

I find the shoe shine method with sanding paper way to slow to round the spine. Perhaps you can knock of the initial sharpness but to get some roundness it is just to slow.

Because of this I always use my cheap stones to do this. Just use the stone to do rounding. But you do need a vice to hold your knife. To refinish I then use sand paper and shoe shine method.

Few other good points mentioned:
* tape the cutting edge. Once I cut my self like crazy doing finishing and shoe shine movements
* I would not attempt this without a vice. I have some small one that I put on the table. Perfect for holding the knife. You can get it really cheaply in any hardware store.
* Like TB said: put tape on the sides of the knife to avoid any errant scratches while you’re doing it. The best tape I found for this is Tesa Orange tape. This one you can remove easily without leaving any glue residue on the blade. Also good option is painters tape, but Tesa is clear winner.

 

[playero]

Use the work sharp to do this

 

[captaincaed]

I find the shoe shine method with sanding paper way to slow to round the spine. Perhaps you can knock of the initial sharpness but to get some roundness it is just to slow.

Because of this I always use my cheap stones to do this. Just use the stone to do rounding. But you do need a vice to hold your knife. To refinish I then use sand paper and shoe shine method.

Few other good points mentioned:
* tape the cutting edge. Once I cut my self like crazy doing finishing and shoe shine movements
* I would not attempt this without a vice. I have some small one that I put on the table. Perfect for holding the knife. You can get it really cheaply in any hardware store.
* Like TB said: put tape on the sides of the knife to avoid any errant scratches while you’re doing it. The best tape I found for this is Tesa Orange tape. This one you can remove easily without leaving any glue residue on the blade. Also good option is painters tape, but Tesa is clear winner.

Agree 100%