going thin

[scott.livesey]

i have been playing with thinner and thinner steel to see what the limit is for a functional knife. so i bought a piece of 1/32" Starrett O-1 PGFS. first adventure was cutting up the piece, dull bandsaw blade rip and tore. i heat treated the blade at 800C with a 7 minute soak, 2 or 3 seconds in quench oil, then between weighted aluminum plates till cool to the touch. my biggest fear was warp, but it did not happen. cold water scrub then 1 hour at 300F, cold water quench then 2 hours at 325F. 10 point Rc test averaged 63.5.
i figured use a basic shape, so we have a square tipped blade. overall length is 9 inches, the blade is 4.25" overall with a 4" edge. blade width is 1.25", tang width is 11/16". blade thickness at handle is 0.025", bevel is about 0.3" wide, secondary bevel is there but hard to see.

total weight is a 2.1 oz. handle is 4.75" long, 3/4" high and wide, book matched black walnut. balance point is where the bottom of the handle starts to curve up. handle and balance point allow the knife to be comfortable in any hand position. I have used the knife as a utility kitchen tool. cuts very well pull or push cutting, i have used it on raw and cooked beef and pork(up to 4"thick), fresh bread and rolls, and every fruit and vegetable you can think of except winter squash. i have had no issues with the blade bending or chipping.

 

[KenH]

1/32"? That's thin! I've used .052" and felt that was a nice thickness for paring/peeling knives, but almost half that thickness? Did you grind it post HT? I'll bet it does slice thru meat easy.

Ken H>

 

[Self Made Knives]

I can't imagine even trying to use a grinder for this, did you do you bevels all by hand? I would guess it was done with hand sanding only.

 

[scott.livesey]

I used a coarse Norton Crystolon to do the bevel, then fine Crystolon then a fine diamond to set secondary bevel after heat treat. you don't have to remove a lot of steel to get a working knife. i used my 2x72 at low speed(about 600fpm) to finish the blade. i have a second knife that is the same except for handle. will grind it on 2x72 and 8" disc to see what happens.