Hello all, This is a GREAT forum and I've learned a LOT from reading. I'd like to ask a question I'm sure has been discussed in the past, but it didn't turn up in a quick search.
Is there a general agreement on best finish for a hi-carbon steel kitchen knife? I've made a couple using coil spring steel (5160 perhaps?) for the wife. Cut length of coil with torch, put in gas forge to red heat, pound the steel until it sorta looks like a knife, then grind away rest that doesn't look like knife. Heat to non-magnetic and let cool, trying to get each a tad less heat above non-magnetic that first.
For heat treating I heated to non-magnetic quenched in 120ºF Canola oil. Very hard, file won't touch. Then bake in wife's oven until done (grinning) (400ºF for an hour)
Finished to a very shiny finish - like a mirror. Problem: wife says it won't stay that way, as the knife is used, food tends to stain the blade. I had told her to expect a patina to develop much like old time butcher knifes.
Now, to my question about finish - would a satin finish work better? A satin finish would allow cleaning with a green pad to maintain the satin finish - or that is my thinking.
How do ya'll normally finish a kitchen knife?
Ken H>
Is there a general agreement on best finish for a hi-carbon steel kitchen knife? I've made a couple using coil spring steel (5160 perhaps?) for the wife. Cut length of coil with torch, put in gas forge to red heat, pound the steel until it sorta looks like a knife, then grind away rest that doesn't look like knife. Heat to non-magnetic and let cool, trying to get each a tad less heat above non-magnetic that first.
For heat treating I heated to non-magnetic quenched in 120ºF Canola oil. Very hard, file won't touch. Then bake in wife's oven until done (grinning) (400ºF for an hour)
Finished to a very shiny finish - like a mirror. Problem: wife says it won't stay that way, as the knife is used, food tends to stain the blade. I had told her to expect a patina to develop much like old time butcher knifes.
Now, to my question about finish - would a satin finish work better? A satin finish would allow cleaning with a green pad to maintain the satin finish - or that is my thinking.
How do ya'll normally finish a kitchen knife?
Ken H>