Modification Project

[BKChef]

Does anyone know how to (or if it's possible) go about getting a knife modified from the original type to a different knife?

Example- I have 2 Nenox G Type 210mm Gyutos. 1 that I used at home and one that I would bring to work. The work one has been beat up pretty bad (mishandled and mis-sharpened) the belly is all but flat and misaligned. I was wondering if some knife master could make it into a Honesuki.
I have emailed Nenox and am trying to get to Korin to ask Sugai if it's possible, I honestly prefer the anonymity of asking on this forum than the face to face embarassment of a skilled japanese artisan telling me that I am delusional that such a thing is possible.

Anyone have any ideas?
or am I just delusional?

[Alchemist]

Time for a new knife IMHO.

[boar_d_laze]

Gyutos are forged (or stamped) more or less symmetrically. Honesukes on the other hand have a lot more metal on one side than the other.

I think a large handled, 18cm petty might be doable.

BDL

[Alchemist]

It may very well be "Doable" but at what cost? and at what expenditure of time and effort? Some things are simply best done "from alpha to omega". Taking an older used & abused blade, and using it as "raw material" for a new blade would not be the best choice for a craftsman by any standard. It's simply easier to start out from scratch using decent materials that do not have the geometrical issues associated with a blade that has already been forged and ground to shape. The "older" knife has already been hardened and tempered, and it would need to be annealed (more energy expenditure) and then re-hardened and tempered (more energy expenditure). Sure one could try "simply" grinding off any excess metal and re-finishing the old blade, which might work - and then again, might not. Temper could be lost during the re-grinding process, scratch removal on hardened and tempered steel could prove a VERY long and Sisyphean procedure, and bear in mind that there is no guarantee that the outcome will be favorable. Just my two cents.

[Err]

It may very well be "Doable" but at what cost? and at what expenditure of time and effort? Some things are simply best done "from alpha to omega". Taking an older used & abused blade, and using it as "raw material" for a new blade would not be the best choice for a craftsman by any standard. It's simply easier to start out from scratch using decent materials that do not have the geometrical issues associated with a blade that has already been forged and ground to shape. The "older" knife has already been hardened and tempered, and it would need to be annealed (more energy expenditure) and then re-hardened and tempered (more energy expenditure). Sure one could try "simply" grinding off any excess metal and re-finishing the old blade, which might work - and then again, might not. Temper could be lost during the re-grinding process, scratch removal on hardened and tempered steel could prove a VERY long and Sisyphean procedure, and bear in mind that there is no guarantee that the outcome will be favorable. Just my two cents.

This is incorrect in some important respects. You do not need to anneal and reharden it, you could just grind it to a new shape.

Some knife makers grind after HT, Mike Stewart at Bark river being a notable example. I recently modified the belly curve substantially on the knife I made. You need to dunk it in water frequently to stop it overheating and ruining the temper. It will be too thin to heat treat without the chance of it warping being too high.
Your main problem will be paying someone for their time doing it, itwould get expensive quite quickly. Buy a small beltgrinder like a 1x30 or a 2x42 from craigslist and do it yourself.
OTOH it is an expensive piece of steel to learn how to grind on!

[Alchemist]

This is incorrect in some important respects. You do not need to anneal and reharden it, you could just grind it to a new shape.

Some knife makers grind after HT, Mike Stewart at Bark river being a notable example. I recently modified the belly curve substantially on the knife I made. You need to dunk it in water frequently to stop it overheating and ruining the temper. It will be too thin to heat treat without the chance of it warping being too high.
Your main problem will be paying someone for their time doing it, itwould get expensive quite quickly. Buy a small beltgrinder like a 1x30 or a 2x42 from craigslist and do it yourself.
OTOH it is an expensive piece of steel to learn how to grind on!

Where is the incorrectness?? You pretty much echoed everything I said - almost, that is. You decided to ignore some of it I guess - but thats OK too....

[Err]

Where is the incorrectness?? You pretty much echoed everything I said - almost, that is. You decided to ignore some of it I guess - but thats OK too....

The error is specifically on annealing and rehardening. You do not need to anneal and reharden it, you could just grind it to a new shape.

You are also wrong on how long it will take to remove the scratches. With power tools it is entirely possible and need not be sisyphean. I know because I have taken hardened steel up to mirror finish, down to 40 grit (for reshaping) and back to mirror, have you?

[ksskss]

Well you could regrind a knife to a different shape. I've done a few of these recently. The issue here is that the honesuki is a bit more stout than a gyuto, so you could 'repurpose' the knife to a honesuki-like shape. I wouldn't suggest using a grinder like a Harbor Freight or other grinders that you can't control the speed. I grind it in such a way that it never gets hot enough to where I can't keep my hands on it the whole time. I would first look it over and then decide what shape it could be changed to. As BDL mentioned, a petty or even a thin garasuki shape may be possible. Are you thinkingf specifically about a honesuki because you need to take apart chickens or just because that's what the knife is starting to look like? Send me a PM (private message) if you want. Another possibility is that it just needs a 'tuneup' and can continue as a gyuto. I've seen some rather strange knives lately. I recently turned a petty into a Thai fruit carving knife.

And welcome to the forum.

---
Ken

[Tippet]

You could use a file. Get that knife anchored good, clamped in a vise. You can literally shape it any way you like with a $12 mill bastard, then run the new surfaces through the grit-levels to a shine. Try it! It's a blast running a coarse file 90º across a knife edge. Turns out handles aren't that hard to replace either, if you have some tools.

[Err]

You could use a file. Get that knife anchored good, clamped in a vise. You can literally shape it any way you like with a $12 mill bastard, then run the new surfaces through the grit-levels to a shine. Try it! It's a blast running a coarse file 90º across a knife edge. Turns out handles aren't that hard to replace either, if you have some tools.

If it's properly hardened a file will not cut it.