Reducing Knife Blade Length

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Brandon-C

Tenderfoot
Mar 25, 2017
97
4
Highlands
I have a SAK huntsman where I reprofiled both blades into a more clip point style shape for better penetration. Not really made shorter but still I did this all on a rough grit sharening stone.
 

Keith_Beef

Native
Sep 9, 2003
1,366
268
55
Yvelines, north-west of Paris, France.
Nah, no 2x72, those short fat belts heat up too fast, need long thin belts so that they stay as cool as possible.

I agree that a longer belt stays cooler. It's not only the belt length, it's also that much of the length of the belt is exposed to air on the back side, too. The machine I have, like the one in the page I linked to, have a short belt whose cloth back is almost always close to or in contact with the machine, so it can get hot more quickly.

Nevertheless, if it's just for occasional use for jobs like this, such a machine is very useful, and I've done an enormous amount of work on mine, using both the belt and the disc. And I don't think that a 72" belt would have heated up any less. For example, reshaping Opinel blades from the traditional shape to a sheepsfoot, I found that the blade was heating up much more than the belt; I don't think that a cloth backed belt does anything to conduct heat away from the workpiece.
 
Jul 30, 2012
3,570
224
westmidlands
So probably easier for him to use the belt sander he has access to already - not that terrible advice after all. ;)

Post tempering I would not touch a blade with a grinder unless it was cooled, but thatt just my personal opinion, I know Alan wood sharpens his own knives via a dry belt sander.

Cutting a SAK knife up to make it shorter and turning it into a non locker seems like a bad idea, what could you possibly want on a 4 inch sack other than the blade and saw that cannot be replicated by a smaller knife. And if it's the saw buy a saw.
 

palace

Forager
Mar 4, 2011
228
1
NW London England
I have changed the blade profiles of about a dozen farrier's hoof knives to make them into better shapes for wood carving.
I use a Dremel and Dremel cutoff disks. Just take your time, little by little, so you don't cook it. Only have to do it once, right?
After market disks are thin, they wear fast and you really spend more, to get the same job done = crap.
1. Hearing protection.
2. Full face protection. A cutoff that explodes at 15,000 rpm really stings, every time.
3. Some sort of dust collection.

That profile can be smoothed out with the same Dremel and a stone.
Plus, the Dremel has many uses, unlike a stationary belt sander, as useful as they are.

I reduced the blade length of 2 original Germany army knives with a dremel (clone) a few years ago, First I placed the blade in a vice having wrapped the blade & GAK body with damp cloth to prevent loss of temper & to prevent sudden closure.

Both are UK legal and are daily carries by my son in law & myself.
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,422
614
Knowhere
I reduced the blade length of 2 original Germany army knives with a dremel (clone) a few years ago, First I placed the blade in a vice having wrapped the blade & GAK body with damp cloth to prevent loss of temper & to prevent sudden closure.

Both are UK legal and are daily carries by my son in law & myself.

I don't really see the point though, you can have SAKs that you have to have a reason to carry, and those you can carry freely. I have both, the locking version for when I can justify it, and the non locking less than 3 inch version for when I can't. No need to botch up a knife in either case.
 

palace

Forager
Mar 4, 2011
228
1
NW London England
I don't really see the point though, you can have SAKs that you have to have a reason to carry, and those you can carry freely. I have both, the locking version for when I can justify it, and the non locking less than 3 inch version for when I can't. No need to botch up a knife in either case.


  • I had my own very valid reasons GAK's are non locking for a start. Whilst the cutting edge is all that is usually quoted in articles. I remember when the Criminal justice Act 1988 was originally introduced it said a blade length of less than 3": Therefore blade length is also important ; however is not often quoted I believe that because of e a Stated Case a precedent in law has been set re a 3" cutting edge. As far as I am aware a 3" blade length is still law otherwise theoretically you could have a much longer blade if it only had a 3" cutting edge (S.1 Prevention of crimes act 1953 would then apply). Initially lock knives were safe until 2 other stated cases excluded them from the CJA1988

    Below is part of a guidance document for yachtsmen which also applies to us.


    "Other KnivesThe current legal position is that by virtue of S.139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 it is anoffence for a person to have in a public place a knife (other than a folding pocket knife witha blade of less than 3 inches) or other bladed or pointed article; however, it is a defence for that person to show that they had good reason or lawful authority to have the knife etc. withthem;

    it is also a defence for a person to show that they had the article with them for use atwork, as part of any national costume or for religious reasons.A public place is anywhere that the public has, or is
    permitted to have, access to – even ifthe public must pay for such access.

    A privately owned car or other vehicle is regarded asbeing a “public place” while the vehicle is on the public highway.It is also established that a folding knife having a pointed blade of less than three inches inlength and
    capable of being secured in an open position by a locking device is not a foldingpocket knife within the meaning of S.139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.

    As such, if afolding knife has a locking blade of any length then it will be an offence for a person to haveit in a public place without good


    reason or lawful authority. This may apply to many popularbranded multi-tools.The penalty for committing an offence under S.139 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 iscurrently imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months (12 months in Northern Ireland),or a fine not exceeding the statutory

    maximum, or both (in the Magistrates’ Court) orimprisonment for a term not exceeding four years, or a fine, or both (in the Crown Court.)"

    © Royal Yachting AssociationUpdated: 14 February 2017 (This guidance note has been produced with the assistance of the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and N. Ireland)
  • ACPO is now the Association of Chief Police officers


 

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