Silly/Odd HT question

James Terrio

Well-Known Member
We've all seen cool forged knives where some of the forging marks and scale is left on. I was just wondering if I did a similar project by stock-removal and left some of the mill scale showing, would that pose any problems during HT? Will it be an issue later in terms of corrosion resistance? Will the HT'ed mill scale be brittle or durable?

What I'm thinking is a simple-as-possible yet high-quality camp knife in CPM-D2 or CPM-3V with a very basic satin finish. The idea is to keep labor costs to a minimum yet still use high-performance steel. Peters' does all my HT at this time.
 
The mill scale from cpm steels is a little different than what forms on forging steels, you generally want to remove all of it before HT or you end up with a super-hard skin that eats abrasives and laughs casually at blasting media. My last piece of cpm154 still had some of this after Aldo ground it. Nasty stuff if it isn't gone before HT.
 
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That might not be a bad thing in this case. Just to be clear, I'd be grinding and finishing the bevels to very near finished dimensions as normal. The only mill scale left would be on the flats/ricasso and maybe part of the spine.
 
As long as it dosen't affect your finish then it probably isn't an issue. I am bead blasting most of mine and any mill scale left on the flats will utterly resist the media, leaving a shiny spot. I am not friends with the stuff, myself.
 
I am not friends with the stuff, myself.

I'm generally not either, in fact whenever possible I gladly pay extra to have my stock precision ground to get rid of it. This will be a sort of "ugly knife" project... moderate cost, dirt-simple finish, but the same high-performance steel and HT. Guess I'll make one and run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes...
 
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