Cracking Blade...Darnit!

[Solemnsaint]

Hey all, I had a question here about polishing a blade.

I had a nice looking C-mon Blackie and I was prepping it for use. It had some staining/pitting and I wanted to polish it off. SO I read a posting about using 220 grit paper to sand it off. It took FOREVER and I never really did get ALL of it off but it made it look rally nice. Anyways, when I finished, Itook it under a light. It had 10-15 small cracks running perpendicular from the blades edge. I was wondering what I did wrong, can it be fixed, and how can this be avoided? Basicly did I ruin this poor blade? Thanks guys your great!

Mike

[Aquanin]

A lot of very hollow grind blades have very thin metal that is heat treated to be very hard. It is fragile and if you put too much pressure on it when sanding it can easily crack.

[Solemnsaint]

In your opinion is it possible to hone these cracks away?
-Mike

[gugi]

Usually they cant be honed out as they propagate forward. Are you sure these are cracks and not leftover pitting?

[Solemnsaint]

I do suppose I could take a closer look. They are almost impossible to see except right in the middle of the blade and only when the light catches them. And they run perp from the edge. I'll try to rough hone them and cut it out then take another look. Thats pretty discouraging to think I ruined my blade...