# Desert Ironwood boot knife - What kind of grind?



## Palaswood (Aug 19, 2016)

so I did a trade with an instagram follower where I sent him some Desert Ironwood thins for a heat treaded blade I could put some DIW scales on. 

Here is the project after a coat of shellac. Brass pins. I figure I'll just put a few coats of wax and be done. I hate poly.

Thing is, the blade was ground on both sides and the blade is curved, so it doesn't cut for poop.

What would be a good grind to save this blade? Should I take the curvature out of the blade? 
I've thought of grinding off the bevel altogether and going for a scandi grind...

Any Thoughts?

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## norman vandyke (Aug 19, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> so I did a trade with an instagram follower where I sent him some Desert Ironwood thins for a heat treaded blade I could put some DIW scales on.
> 
> Here is the project after a coat of shellac. Brass pins. I figure I'll just put a few coats of wax and be done. I hate poly.
> 
> ...


Would be good to see the blade, I think.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## ripjack13 (Aug 19, 2016)

Pix of cutting edge?




@Tclem 

@robert flynt


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## Palaswood (Aug 19, 2016)

its all i had on me. ill post one in a few when i go home for lunch. you can see the grind at the top right. but yeah. bonehead moveon my part. doh!

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Palaswood (Aug 19, 2016)

Here they are.last one is back of blade tip


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## Tclem (Aug 19, 2016)

Hmmmmm. Good luck

Reactions: Funny 1


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## Palaswood (Aug 19, 2016)

Tclem said:


> Hmmmmm. Good luck


that bad huh? lol


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## Tclem (Aug 19, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> that bad huh? lol


I'm by far not the knife expert on here but you got your work cut out for you. You say it won't cut ?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## ripjack13 (Aug 19, 2016)

Did you do that to the blade or the guy you got it from?


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## Palaswood (Aug 19, 2016)

ripjack13 said:


> Did you do that to the blade or the guy you got it from?


So when I got it, it was a polished up turd that didn't cut for sheisse. I put an edge on it on my diamond plates without regrinding it to see if it would cut, still was crap (bevel wasn't narrow enough I believe). So I let my buddy sharpen it up cause he thought he was the master cause he sharpened up his pocket knife or some stupid thing and he jacked it up worse, but I figured I was gonna regrind it anyways so I just let him mess with it, lol. It's a learner knife. I was gonna send the guy the Ironwood anyways for a table he was making using 62 different species of wood, but he insisted on sending the "knife"...
I thought it had potential, but then again I'm an optimist.

Reactions: Like 2


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## ripjack13 (Aug 19, 2016)

@Tclem 
Tony, how would he go about checking to see if the knife has been hardened properly? Could be too soft to hold an edge?
And how to see if it's worth saving.....


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## NYWoodturner (Aug 19, 2016)

I would make it a real learning knife... Anneal it, re-grind it, re-heat treat it and put a new edge on it.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## Tclem (Aug 19, 2016)

ripjack13 said:


> @Tclem
> Tony, how would he go about checking to see if the knife has been hardened properly? Could be too soft to hold an edge?
> And how to see if it's worth saving.....


I have hardness files but running a file across the edge of a hardened knife gives a different sound. Does it skate across or grab

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Foot Patrol (Aug 19, 2016)

I agree with Scott. Looks like a project knife for sure. Do you know what kind of steel it is? This would be helpful to know.

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Palaswood (Aug 20, 2016)

I feel like I've been bamboozled. If I remember correctly he said it's stainless. I'll check the file again, but it was heat treated according to the guy who sent it to me.


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## Tclem (Aug 20, 2016)

Is that how you received it or did you work on the blade ?


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## Palaswood (Aug 20, 2016)

i


Tclem said:


> Is that how you received it or did you work on the blade ?


just sharpened not worked

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tclem (Aug 20, 2016)

Ask for a refund

Reactions: Funny 1


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## NYWoodturner (Aug 20, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> I'll check the file again, but it was heat treated according to the guy who sent it to me.



Heat treated and heat treated correctly are two different things. Looking at the finish on the blade I would say its super soft and not heat treated correctly.

If your looking for a learner this is it, but it would be easier to start with a blank and go from there.
If thats what your looking for PM me and I'll hook you up.

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Way Cool 1


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## robert flynt (Aug 20, 2016)

Looks like a poor example of a convex grind or ax grind, it makes for a tough blade good for chopping but not much else. You can change it to a flat grind or concave grind ( hollow grind ). I prefer the hollow grind, unless your going to abuse it, because you can sharpen it a lot more than the other two before the edge get to thick to sharpen easily. The scandi. grind is a shallow grind which causes the edge to get thick pretty quick forcing you to have to regrind the blade if it gets heavy use.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Great Post 2


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## Palaswood (Aug 22, 2016)

Tclem said:


> Ask for a refund


I didn't pay for it, just sent the guy some Desert Ironwood thins for a table build. It's all good.

Reactions: Like 1


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