Fixing a notched knife edge?

[Roy Smith]

I know this isn't really about wood, but it's about sharpening steel edges, which is something woodworkers know a lot about.

I was making soup today. I got some beef ribs from the store and tried to cut them up by whapping them with our nice chinese cleaver that my wife has owned for longer than she's known me. Turns out beef ribs are harder than I thought and I put a couple of nice notches in the blade.

Any ideas for the best way to rejuvinate the edge?

Next time, I'm bringing them down to the shop and cutting them up on the band saw :-)

[Dan Valleskey]

I used my band saw to cut up frozen/ smoked salmon a few years back. It works- just clean everything afterward.

the cleaver- No easy way that I know of to fix it. Grind it back to where the notches are gone. You will change the shape of the cutting edge some. If the notches are real deep, you might just look for a new one.

So did you find the metal bits that must have been stuck in the beef ribs, before you ate them?

-Dan V.

[Tom]

If it's really dinged, you'll have to grind it down to a proper edge profile, then grind a new flat and bevel, or bevel and bevel, 'sup to you.Tom >Subject: Fixing a notched knife edge?

Someday, it'll all be over....

[Bridger]

those chinese 'cleavers' are meant to be used more like a french chef's knife. a file might do. otherwise it's grinder time....

[Weldon Wilson]

Grind it down and then scary sharp it. Be careful not to overheat it when grinding it. That Chinese "cleaver" is a knife, not a cleaver. Buy a real cleaver or use your band saw for cutting bones.

Weldon

[Gary Dyrkacz]

Many years ago my father used his Sears band saw on a large beef roast with a bone. Hey the butchers do it all the time...right? I don't know if the meat was frozen or not, but according to what he said, he completely ruined the rubber bead on the wheels. The band just stopped dead when he tried to cut a piece of wood, while the drive wheel slipped merrily along under the blade.

Gary Dyrkacz [e-mail] Radio Control Aircraft/Paintball Physics/Paintball for 40+