UlU eskimo knife steel?

R

Rey

Well-Known Member
The Ulu knives used by eskimo natives is what kind of steel? When you hit them together they produce a loud ping noise. I have 4 of them yet to be done and don't have any knowledge how to start the annealing, heat forge to non-magnetic to oven hardening. Any information greatly appreciated, thanks. Rey
 
It depends on what the maker used to make them with. I've seen unfinished blades in that pattern out out good ol' 440C in catalogs. I'm a little unclear on the second part of your post. Do you have blades made up that need to be heat treated or do you have finished blades that just need to be handled? If it's the former then there is no way of being able to advise on heat treatment without knowing the alloy that was used to make them. If you got them form a knife maker supply house then they are probably already heat treated and ready to recieve an handle and a final sharpening.

Doug
 
Hey Doug, they were given to me and I'm sure they come from knifemaker supply. They're cut out with handle and knife pattern so, they probaly are ready to put a handle and final sharpening along with cleaning them to a satin look. And they make ping sounds like wind chimes when you bang them together.
 
I would say that there is no heat treatment required. Just put a handle on them and do a final sharpening. Post pictures when you're done. We would be interested in seeing them.

Doug
 
Rey said:
Hey Doug, they were given to me and I'm sure they come from knifemaker supply. They're cut out with handle and knife pattern so, they probaly are ready to put a handle and final sharpening along with cleaning them to a satin look. And they make ping sounds like wind chimes when you bang them together.
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Drag a file over a spot were you can refinish the blade.
If it skips and makes a high pitch whine you have heat treated steel.
For a comparison, Drag that same file over a piece of known non heat treated steel.
That will make a much lower pitch sound and bite into the steel much easier.

Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
I believe traditional handmade ulu's were typically cut from old saw blades which could be any number of carbon or tool steels. If they were purchased from a supply house, they could be anything from 440C to even 1095.

Either way, a file should give you a fairly good idea if they need heat treated or not. You may even take them to a local metallurgy lab or machine shop and have them rockwell tested.
 
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