What was someone thinking?

[treefarmer]

Yesterday one of the little boys at church came up and handed me a small metal handled knife and said, "Mr. Phil, can you fix this?" He found it in an old tackle box and couldn't get the blade to open. I couldn't open it with my thumb nail for him. A little oil and a pair of pliers and it opened to the strangest looking blade modification I'd ever seen. Almost appears to have been turned into a regular straight bladed screwdriver. The edge is ground completely flat and what remains might be used to tighten a screw on a fishing reel, maybe?

The spring is amazingly strong, a nail breaker for sure, great walk and talk but not for a little feller or for that matter an old man.
Going to make him a trade for a gold toned gentleman's knife that opens more easily and then give the J.A.Henckels back to him too.

Treefarmer

[Steve Warden]

Well done.
As for the modified blade, no doubt it served the purpose for the one who did it.

[glennbad]

Great trade! Although I'm not sure who got the better of the deal, him or you!

[Mumbleypeg]

Great trade! Having had similar experiences as a youngster myself, assuming he is old enough he will remember you forever!

As for the intended purpose of the modified blade I think you’ve made a very astute guess.

Ken

[SwedgeHead]

It's just what you do when you don't want to tear into a worn out knife but cant bring yourself to toss it away

[1967redrider]

I could see an electrician using a blade like that . . . maybe.

[treefarmer]

I realized I hadn't shown the edge of the blade on the young boy's knife. It has a 90° edge, hopefully y'all can see what was done. It sure would be tough to cut anything with that edge.

Still looks like a makeshift screwdriver made from a tipped blade to me.
Treefarmer

[SwedgeHead]

Its just making something out of nothing would be my take
It was a broken knife and now its a working screwdriver, why not. Plus you get to grind metal.