Repairing a Chipped Blade

The loppers have been getting a workout.  I noticed a big chip out of the cutting blade yesterday.

These are bypass cutters.  The bevel is all on one side, the side that is not visible.  There are three issues caused by this chip.

1. The blade is dull where it is chipped
2. The bevel goes in the wrong direction
3. There are fragile corners on both pivot and tip side of the chip that will break.

Repairing this chip involves filing from the beveled side and smooging out the corners.

This photo was taken from the other side after the repair.  It is not my best work but it is not my worst either.  I may round out the sharp corners a little more.

This steel was relatively soft...a little softer than an SAE Grade 8 bolt. This steel is more likely to bend than chip.  It was a pleasant surprise to be able to be able to effectively shape it with a chainsaw and flat bastard file.