How to flatten 1084 plate that is bowed

cpurser

Member
Hello all. I've been hanging around a little while, trying to learn as much as I can. This forum is wonderful.

I'm starting my first knife, and I ordered some 1084, 4" wide plate @ 0.14" thick. This particular piece is about 10" long, and it has a very slight bow to it, maybe 1/16" in the middle.

What is the best way to get it flat? I thought about putting a dowel in the middle and clamping both ends, but I just know I'd just make it worse.

Sorry if this has been answered before, but I did a search and couldn't find anything.

Thanks,
Chad
 
I take it you are talking about an annealed piece of steel. Your method could work. You could also try clamping it in a vice just below the curve and bending it by hand. With it that thin you might also try tapping it out with a wooden mallet. You might try to heat it up to about 400 degrees first if you have a way to hold the hot steel.

Doug
 
If you are having it professionally heat treated?

Go ahead and call the heat treatment people and see what they recommend.
I use Paul Bos Heat treatment at Buck Knives. there are many other services for Heat treatment.

Laurence

www.westsidesharpening.com.
 
Yes, it is annealed. I bought it from The New Jersey Steel Baron.

Since this will be my first knife (and probably very ugly!), I plan on heat treating it myself using the "magnet and motor oil method."

Thanks for the help.

-Chad
 
a slight bend is not a big deal. Your method will work. Just bend it back to as flat as you can get it. When heat treating, you will want to watch to make sure it ends up straight if the bend returns.
 
Another method that may be as easy as anything else is to shim the ends while clamping the stock to a straight edge. Clamp the middle so that it "over corrects" the bow, and stick it in your oven at about 400F or so for 30 minutes. This is how I usually correct any warping from the quench, but I don't see why it wouldn't work for this.
 
Here's an update. I did a 3-point bend and it seemed to work fine. It took me about 3 tries to dial in the correct amount. As you can see from the picture, I got with within 1/64" over the length of the plate.

Thanks for the help.

plate_bend1_IMG_9005_800px.jpgplate_bend2_IMG_9006_800px.jpgplate_gap_IMG_9007_800px.jpg
 
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