I decided to plunge ahead with my plans to shorten the blade tails of Gold Seals. They are about 1/4" longer than my Pattern 99 blades (which I really like, BTW). I was afraid that I'd step on the tails of the Gold Seals at some point and tumble. I shortened them to match the Pattern 99 blade length.
The first step was to mark the amount of grinding necessary to reach the goal.
To the bench grinder I went. I'd do 5-second grind, then a quick quench before grinding more. Rinse and repeat. The frequent water quench should preserve blade hardening.
After shortening, I rounded the top to echo the old shape then smoothed the sharp edges. The left blade in this photo has been shortened, and the right one is the original length.
Here is an end view of a modified blade...
I'll have to coat the machined end with a gray or silver paint to prevent rust.
The whole operation from marking the blade to the finished photo took about an hour.