Do I need to heat treat a wedding cake knife?

shaynster

Member
It's only going to be used once and it's just cutting cake. It's aeb-l stainless, should I still heat treat it? If so is there anyone in northern Indiana that wants to do it?

Thanks,
Shayn
 
One more question, would it be more corrosion resistant if it was heat treated? My nephew said they would probably use it and pack it away after the wedding. I don't know metals very well and don't want it to corrode after they pack it away.

Thanks,
Shayn
 
I would for the simple reason a knife should hold an edge. You never know what the future holds and someone might try to use it someday
 
Shayn,

To awnser your other question about HT improving corrosion resistance it will help against certain acids.
You can google the question "Does Heat treatment increase corrosion resistance in stainless steel" and read about it if you like.

So while it's not nessasary and most aren't it appears the consensus is to do it anyway.

You will need to resand it afterwards. a little handsanding is fun!

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
If it is shaped like a wedding cake knife then a heat treatment will probably never be noticed since that specialized shape makes it pretty useless for any other application. That being said, I can say that I myself would heat treat it, simply because it would be a blade that I made and people would expect it to have the best possible heat treatment I could give it. I can say this because I did make a cake knife several years ago when a dear friend got married, it was a composite twist pattern O-1/L6 Damascus with the HRC optimized for cutting that it would never see, but I had to do it all the same. But if ninjas had crashed the wedding the bride alone could have dispatched several of them with that cake knife. With carbon steels little difference is made from heat treatment in the corrosion resistance, cut in stainless steel it makes a significant difference.
 
But if ninjas had crashed the wedding the bride alone could have dispatched several of them with that cake knife.

In fairness, a girl capable of dispatching ninjas with a cake knife probably has a better knife (or several) stashed elsewhere on her person for just such situations. I agree, however, that if I were to put my name on a knife and let the public see it, it would be heat treated.
 
In fairness, a girl capable of dispatching ninjas with a cake knife probably has a better knife (or several) stashed elsewhere on her person for just such situations. I agree, however, that if I were to put my name on a knife and let the public see it, it would be heat treated.

If the bride was able to dispatch Ninjas, she would could do so with the plastic hor d'ors forks and a few well place throws of martini olives into death spots on her assailants.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com
 
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