Newbie Question

R

Rebel_Blades

Member
Lets see how this works ........... I am fairly new to making blades, I have been putting handles on blanks for a while. The main question I have right now is how thick do I leave the blade for heat treating ?? I have looked on line and nobody mentions how much to leave BEFORE heat treating. I have gotten fairly good at making a nice hollow grind on cheap steel from Lowes But I want to try on some good stock now. Thanx in advance for any input. I am grinding on my own version of the NWG ....... I will be heat treating in a home built brick forge.

Dan
Rebel Blades
 
I'm pretty new to this also but I've heard .040 if your talking about the cutting edge. I'm sure others with more experience will share more input.
 
In a forge I'd suggest approximately the thickness of a dime, this will help prevent warping which can happen with too thin of an edge, and will allow for the decarborization that will happen in hardening. This extra thickness will need to be removed after heat-treating otherwise the edge will be too thick to slice well.
 
I have had makers tell me a dime and .040. But I have found that .015 - .020 works best for me on the edge thickness before HT. I haven't had any warping or problems. It makes it easier finishing the grinds after HT, in my opinion. Less time = less heat. Just dunk in water all the time (after each pass) to make sure you don't change the temper.
 
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