I have a Leatherman Charge XTI and was using it to cut a plug connector off a lithium-polymer radio control plane battery. The wire gauge is tiny, and the connectors were too close together to get them into the wire cutter without shorting the two wires, so I decide to use the tip of the main blade to sever the first wire so I could then use the wire cutter on the second. I’ve done this in the past with no problems.
All was going well until the very tip of the blade penetrated the insulation on the other wire, resulting in a nice bright spark before I whipped the blade away. Thankfully the battery was only warm, and didn’t explode or flame out like some have reported to do on overcharging. I was also glad I didn’t fry the battery as they cost nearly $50 (special high-discharge rate li-po’s for powerful electric R/C planes).
Anyway, I inspected the knife and was dismayed to find that the spark had blackened the tip and blown/melted a chip out of the edge of the knife. Sorry for the crappy cameraphone pic, but you get the idea:
Now I have zero experience with sharpening (beyond using a steel on my kitchen knives). Does anyone reckon I can re-edge this blade to recover the profile? Or is it a gonner?
Get yourself a good whetstone. As to the sharpening itself, um. Perhaps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife#Sharpening will help
Yeah thanks for that. I ended up getting a sharpening kit which consisted of three different grades of diamond sharpening stone. Worked a treat, although the shape is a bit more wonky than the machined edge.
Hi
Visit http://www.tightlines.co.nz They are leathermans repair agent. Send them the knife after a call and they will replace the blade free of charge for u as it is covered under the 25 year warrent
Hi
Visit http://www.tightlines.co.nz They are leathermans repair agent. Send them the knife after a call and they will replace the blade free of charge for u as it is covered under the 25 year warrent