After heat treat

OmegaRed

Well-Known Member
After you get your knives back from HT, what are your steps?

FYI I'm using O1. Do you just give it a sanding down to final finish then put an edge on it.

Currently my edges are at .30" - is that the final thickness of where you put an edge on or do you take it down further. If so, what do you take it down to?

Thanks
 
FYI I'm using O1. Do you just give it a sanding down to final finish then put an edge on it. Yes, I finish-sand the entire blade, mount the handle and any fittings, shape and polish the handle etc, fit a sheath, then sharpen last.

Currently my edges are at .30" - is that the final thickness of where you put an edge on or do you take it down further. If so, what do you take it down to? I bet you mean .030" ;) That's a good thickness for a heavy-duty chopper, but kind of thick for a skinner or hunter. I take those all the way down to .015" or even less. O1 is pretty tough and can take a very keen sharp edge, so if the knife is going to be used for fine cutting tasks you can go pretty thin. It will cut well and be easy to re-sharpen

Hope this helps :)
 
Just a suggestion. Take the blade down to a rough edge and test for proper hardening. I like to cut soft steel wire, something like bailing wire, to see if the temper is right. You could also do something like chopping wood or slicing fiberous rope or cardboard with it but that would require a fine edge. The reason that I say that is because if you test after you put handles and hardware on the knife and the knife fails testing then you'll have to disassemble the knife to reheat treat the blade. For safety you will need to cover the edge with a few layers of masking tape. This will protect your fingers.

Doug Lester
 
Hope this helps :)

Yes I meant .030 - Thanks for the help...

Just a suggestion. Take the blade down to a rough edge and test for proper hardening. I like to cut soft steel wire, something like bailing wire, to see if the temper is right. You could also do something like chopping wood or slicing fiberous rope or cardboard with it but that would require a fine edge. The reason that I say that is because if you test after you put handles and hardware on the knife and the knife fails testing then you'll have to disassemble the knife to reheat treat the blade. For safety you will need to cover the edge with a few layers of masking tape. This will protect your fingers.

Doug Lester


I'm sending them to Peters HT...thanks for the reply though!
 
Yes, you send them off for heat treating but you should still be checking if the blades have the proper treatment. Ultimately, it's your product that you're putting out. I still recommend that you do some test for temper on every blade you make.

Doug Lester
 
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