440c warped

blksmith

blksmith

Active Member
Just got my 440c filet knife back from Texas Knife makers. WARPED wtf.
Has anybody had any trouble with them? Wasn't warped when I sent it.
Can a warp be straightened out without breaking.
Anu help
TJ Smith
 
Unfortunately with something as thin as a fillet blade, warping is far more likely then not, even coming from a "professional" heat treat outfit. Most will try to straighten if they can, but some get missed, and others simply can't be straightened.

My advice is to call them and be calm/nice....you'll catch far more flies with honey then with vinegar. ;)
 
Ed I don't want any flies. I did call and they acted like it was very common to get a warped blade. They said to send it bach and they would re heat treat it.
Thing is I sent it in to be heat treated,not warped. I could have done that myself. They did offer to pay freight both ways.
Will post results.
Take care
TJ Smith
 
I know this won't help you but I made a couple fillet knives years ago from 440-C and they warped, those were heat treated by me. I kind of just quit making fillet knives at that point. flash forward 25 years...now I use aluminum blocks for air cooled stainless, everything that comes out of those blocks is dead flat, I also heat treat the profiled knife only, fillet's only because their long and thin, and put the grind on them after heat treat dipping in water frequently so as to not ruin the temper. I know this won't help you if your sending them out but it may in the future if you get an oven.
for my fillet knives I've been using 12C27, it's clean and easy to work and I heat treat them to 59-60. I've had some good feed back from people here in Fl. that used them on redfish. I'm still in the test mode of this steel but so far I like it.
 
Thanks Steve
I do have an oven just didn't want to run it that hot.I've had several filet knives done for several years and just needed to have 1 heat treated.I will do my own in the futere. Where do you get your 12c27?
Thanks for the feedback.
Take care
TJ Smith

bladegrinder said:
I know this won't help you but I made a couple fillet knives years ago from 440-C and they warped, those were heat treated by me. I kind of just quit making fillet knives at that point. flash forward 25 years...now I use aluminum blocks for air cooled stainless, everything that comes out of those blocks is dead flat, I also heat treat the profiled knife only, fillet's only because their long and thin, and put the grind on them after heat treat dipping in water frequently so as to not ruin the temper. I know this won't help you if your sending them out but it may in the future if you get an oven.
for my fillet knives I've been using 12C27, it's clean and easy to work and I heat treat them to 59-60. I've had some good feed back from people here in Fl. that used them on redfish. I'm still in the test mode of this steel but so far I like it.
Click to expand...
 
I get 12C27 from Admiral steel. the stainless I normally use is CPM154. I use to use a lot of 440-C but something changed in it's make up...in my opinion.
most of my knives get a mirror polish, and at some point I couldn't get a good mirror finish on 440-C. I tried different venders across the U.S. and it all seemed to be coming from the same place. one thing I've noticed with 12C27 is it is EXTREAMLY soft in it's annealed state, it almost works like hardened aluminum. it's a lot different from American stainless steels, or so it seems to me. all I've used it for so far are a few steak knives and a few fillet knives but I like it so far. I'm making a torture test knife out of it now to see how it fares. you mentioned you didn't like to run you oven up high, I'm not sure I understand you on that, lots of high carbon steels run around 1500 degrees and stainless around 1880 - 1975.
 
Thing is I sent it in to be heat treated,not warped. I could have done that myself. They did offer to pay freight both ways.
Will post results.
Click to expand...

Sounds like they have/are doing everything they can to "take care of a customer". There's a reason that you don't see every knifemaker building fillet blades..... there are a lot of things that can/do go wrong with that type of blade. Generally if something like warping happens when the individual maker heat treats, it's also very likely that a "professional" heat treater is going to have the same issue(s). It's just easier for a "professional" heat treater to miss it, due to the sheer volume of blades they are doing.

Hope it all works out well.
 
In my opinion, and I've dealt with Texas kms, I have not been overly impressed with their customer service. I'd use Peters heat treat. I also agree with the previous poster that mentioned aluminum blocks for air quenching 440c. A fillet knife is too thin to just heat treat and let hang to air cool. Those aluminum blocks will do a good job helping you avoid warping. But keep in mind uneven grinds can also make a blade warp.

I guess my main point is that a professional knife heat treated should know specific ins and outs to heat treating a stainless fillet knife to do their best to avoid issues.

Sent from my XT1565 using Tapatalk
 
I've done a few fillet knives. I bet nearly half of them came out with a bit of a bend.
Like Ed said, they are a pain to heat treat.
 
Well sent my warped 440c fillet knife to be re done as Texas Knife supply warped it. Got it back warped in a different way.
Not happy and will not buy anything from them in the future.
Would you send your knife to a heat treating shop that warped your blades.NO.
Take care
TJ Smith
 
I sent a bunch of fillet knives to Peter's a while back, and they all came back at least as straight as I sent them in, IIRC. They were .070" AEB-L, but what probably helped the most was not grinding bevels until after heat treat. Less chances for things to go wrong...
 
Well thanks for all the thoughts and opinions.Should have done it myself.
I just don't understand how a business can offer a service and not provide it and still be in business.Maybe I will start a knife warping service.
I don,t think I would last to long.
Hey thanks for the info and ideas.
Take Care
TJ Smith
 
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