FLASHPOINT
Partridge form the points of each hook with the normal needle grinding method. The wire then goes through various stages to make it into a finished hook and it is then heat-treated. After that the hooks go through a process in which a chemical attacks the surface. The thinner parts of the wire are affected and, in particular, the point. The chemical smoothes or "eats away" the metal and, in effect, refines the point. This is quite a critical operation because if the chemical sharpening goes on too long it will eventually dull the point and may weaken the barb. Furthermore, if the chemical attacks one side of the point more than the other then the point will be weakened. Finally, it is important to remember that chemical sharpening will not make a weaker point into a strong one. It is more likely to make a suspect point even weaker!