I feel like I've read 100s of forum posts on tempering 5160, and still have doubts about what temperature I should be tempering my large chopper knives at that will be used for batoning wood.
I even read Ed Caffery's thoughts on 5160, but when it comes to tempering toward the end, he gets kind of vague. He seems to say 350 to 365, but I'm not even sure what size/type of knife that was for. Therefore, I've been doing 2 tempers at 350. Is this ok for a 5160 chopper?
So, my goal is to get a 9" blade chopper whose main purpose is to handle the abuse of batoning without snapping off the end. Edge retention is not quite as important as overall toughness.
I wish I had the luxury of destructive testing blades, but as of yet I am a small time hobbyist who uses an angle grinder, files, and sheet sandpaper to create maybe one knife a year just for the pleasure of it. So by the time I finish one it would make me cry to simply destroy the thing in a vice to see what works and what doesn't. Therefore, I am more than happy to simply get a bunch of opinions and that will give me a good starting point. Over time I'm sure I'll figure out the temper temperature I prefer, but until that time I look forward to your ideas.
David B.
I even read Ed Caffery's thoughts on 5160, but when it comes to tempering toward the end, he gets kind of vague. He seems to say 350 to 365, but I'm not even sure what size/type of knife that was for. Therefore, I've been doing 2 tempers at 350. Is this ok for a 5160 chopper?
So, my goal is to get a 9" blade chopper whose main purpose is to handle the abuse of batoning without snapping off the end. Edge retention is not quite as important as overall toughness.
I wish I had the luxury of destructive testing blades, but as of yet I am a small time hobbyist who uses an angle grinder, files, and sheet sandpaper to create maybe one knife a year just for the pleasure of it. So by the time I finish one it would make me cry to simply destroy the thing in a vice to see what works and what doesn't. Therefore, I am more than happy to simply get a bunch of opinions and that will give me a good starting point. Over time I'm sure I'll figure out the temper temperature I prefer, but until that time I look forward to your ideas.
David B.