Thanks much for the thought and idea. I tried some electician's tape and the knurling seemed to grip through the stretched tape.
All in all, I guess I am trying to operate in an "esthetic" manner (a personal interpretation of course), and adding a layer of sticky tape over the knurling just seemed to make a small sticky problem.
I have ordered a smooth handle model 18 from an ebay seller. It seems to be an earlier version of about 5" blade with large, deep, widely separated sawteeth (the older style, I think, based on pictures).
I'm still looking for a model 18 5" with NO SAWTEETH but no luck yet. The serch and chase is all part of the fun and hobby, I guess so I'll keep on keeping on. Thank again very much for the suggestion and response. Best Regards, alabamafats