1080 - First Cut, Anneal First?

[nnnn]

Hi all, I’m making the jump from modifying Old Hickory knives to starting from scratch. I built a little propane forge and ordered some 12” long 1080 billet.

I need to cut these pieces down to size. Will the metal be fine if I chop before annealing? I’d rather anneal smaller pieces if possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

[AlaskanHunter]

Hi all, I’m making the jump from modifying Old Hickory knives to starting from scratch. I built a little propane forge and ordered some 12” long 1080 billet.

I need to cut these pieces down to size. Will the metal be fine if I chop before annealing? I’d rather anneal smaller pieces if possible.

Thanks in advance!

That depends a lot on where you bought it from. As far as I'm aware most of the main knifemaker suppliers sell their steel already annealed.

 

[john april]

the place you bought it should tell you what state it is in. where did you get it ? knifemaking suppliers sell it already annealed.

 

[nnnn]

That depends a lot on where you bought it from. As far as I'm aware most of the main knifemaker suppliers sell their steel already annealed.

I bought 3 bars on Etsy as I had credits available. I bought a piece from another supplier and that came annealed. I have reached out to the vendor in question to confirm.

I ran a file against the pieces from both vendors and the steel in question appears much harder. If it’s confirmed to not be annealed, would it be safe to chop and anneal the smaller pieces or should the entire thing be annealed before touching it?

 

[coldsteelburns]

It's be fine cutting it prior to annealing. I'm not sure how one would go about easily annealing an long bar without a long enough heat treat oven, it will be easily is short sections to get the heat more even in your forge. Also, make sure the extra hardness you felt when filing into the other bar isn't just front the mill scale on the surface. Scale is pretty hard stuff, but once you get below it, you should be able to tell if the actual steel will file more easily or not.

If you do need to anneal it, I'd personally just do some quick and "dirty" sub-critical annealing cycles by bringing the pieces up to about 1250-1300F, which is a about a cherry-red color in a dark/shaded area (i.e not under the sunlight or shop lights), and then let it cool to a black heat, which is when it completely loses all of it's color in the shade is is about 900F, and then repeat this a few times. It should be soft enough to saw and file after doing this.

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)

 

[nnnn]

It's be fine cutting it prior to annealing. I'm not sure how one would go about easily annealing an long bar without a long enough heat treat oven, it will be easily is short sections to get the heat more even in your forge Also, make sure the extra hardness you felt when filing into the other bar isn't just front the mill scale on the surface. Scale is pretty hard stuff, but once you get below it, you should be able to tell if the actual steel will file more easily or not.

If you do need to anneal it, I'd personally just do some quick and "dirty" sub-critical annealing cycles by bringing the pieces up to about 1250-1300F, which is a about a cherry-red color in a dark/shaded area (i.e not under the sunlight or shop lights), and then let it cool to a black heat, which is when it completely loses all of it's color in the shade is is about 900F, and then repeat this a few times. It should be soft enough to saw and file after doing this.

~Paul
My Youtube Channel
... (Just some older videos of some knives I've made in the past)

Thanks for your reply, great info. Just confirmed it’s not annealed (it’s hot rolled), so I’ll be chopping these pieces and annealing after.

Thank you all for your responses, I hope to share a story of a successful knife from scratch soon.

 

[flatblackcapo]

Hi all, I’m making the jump from modifying Old Hickory knives to starting from scratch. I built a little propane forge and ordered some 12” long 1080 billet.

I need to cut these pieces down to size. Will the metal be fine if I chop before annealing? I’d rather anneal smaller pieces if possible.

Thanks in advance!

In case you haven't seen this, there is some good info here.
http://www.cashenblades.com/steel/1080.html