Modifying a slightly abused Native

[robin0999]

Hello, Spyderco forums!
I've been a big fan of Spyderco knives for a little while now, and this is my first post on the forums so far.

A good buddy of mine picked up a Native 4 a couple of months ago. However, he dropped it at work on a military base, which was pretty much all gravel. The knife is fine, with the exception of the tip snapping off. He just decided to order a new one, and he offered to send me the one with the snapped tip, in case I wanted to do anything with it.

Now, I haven't modified a knife before, though I have always had an interest in trying it. Considering this knife isn't costing me anything, I figure it would be a good guinea pig, as well as a nice customized knife when I'm finished.

So far, my ideas are grinding down the top of the blade stock near the tip to make it a reverse tanto and clean up the tip problem, stonewashing the blade and rounding off the FRN portion of the finger choil in order to make it more ergonomic.

Do you guys have any different ideas you think would look cool or interesting, and make the knife a bit more comfortable in the hand? The ideas I posted earlier are really just some thoughts. I think when it's finished, this knife would make a nice beater blade. My main priority is fixing the tip, all the other stuff is just for fun and is secondary.

Thanks in advance.

[Holland]

the reverse tanto sounds like a good idea. another way to not lose any cutting edge and keeping the shape of the blade would to grind metal of from the start of the spine to the tip. might be more aesthetically pleasing... then you could round the spine like what you see on sebenzas. just a thought

[Holland]

oh and welcome to the forums!

[Donut]

How much of the tip broke off?

[robin0999]

Thanks for the welcome!
Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn't filing metal off the back of the spine weaken the lock? It's a backlock, after all. The rounded spine sounds like it could be cool, though.
Donut, I don't have the knife in my posession yet, but it's not much at all. He told me less than 1/8th of an inch.

[tonydahose]

welcome. if it is less than an 1/8" just grind it a bit so its pointy again and then reprofile the edge. or grind the spine down. it wont mess up the lock at all. the lock engages by the pivot point.

check here for a diagram

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/sh...s-work-exactly

[robin0999]

Hmm. Thanks for the diagram. I suppose I wouldn't even have to grind it starting all the way from the back, anyway, just take a bit off past the jimping. My main issue with doing that was potentially messing with the ergo's, but clearly that's not an issue.

[Minibear453]

Just be careful the knife doesn't get too hot, otherwise the heat treat might get compromised. As long as you can hold the blade while grinding, the temperature is safely low.

[robin0999]

Indeed. It doesn't matter as much on the spine, but I'll be sure to wet the blade often once I get close to the cutting edge. I'm probably going to be doing all the grinding with a Dremel tool, if that matters.

[defenestrate]

Just pay close attention with that Dremel. It may not seem like it due to its size but it will get that blade HOT fast. just wetting the blade every little bit should be fine, especially near the edge as you were saying.

I would have to see the blade to have a strong opinion on how you should grind it, but sounds like a reverse tanto type shape would take less time. I am working on getting a more acceptable edge on my forum Adventura that someone careless snapped because they were too busy to use a screwdriver to pry with

[Blerv]

Sounds like a fun project. Just make sure the spine isn't sharpened because then it technically qualifies as a dagger/dirk (which are almost illegal everywhere).

[tonydahose]

tape the sides, dremels tend to wanna get away from you and it will scratch up the blade

[robin0999]

I can deal with a few nicks and scratches in the blade, as i'm probably going to give it a stone wash finish after, and that would sort of help disguise them. Also, I'm not really that crazy about keeping my users pristine- They're users, after all. Now if this was something like a SEBENZA...