1084 chopper ...

J

jakeotter

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Aug 29, 2014
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Hi I'm fairly new to knifemaking. Made a handful so far but all have been smaller knives (4.5" blades and less). I have some 5/32" thick , 1.5" wide 1084 stock that I wanted to make into a chopper (maybe 8" blade..?). My forge is just small two brick so I would have to send away for HT and tempering due to the size. I figured differential tempering would be best for 1084 but if I send away I'm guessing the entire blade will just be an even temper. Sorry now to the question !... Would it even be worth my time making the knife from 1084 if it cannot be differentially tempered? Or if anyone knows how I could do that after getting the knife back maybe that would help..? Thanks !
 
Differential temper is something you could do at home by keeping the edge of the blade in a pan of water, and heating the spine of the blade with a propane torch until it's blue.

That said I don't think there's much need for a differential temper on really any knife blade made from modern steel.

You could likely do the heat-treat at home by making a small charcoal forge from something (brake drum, metal garbage can lid, etc...) I have successfully used a charcoal BBQ for heat-treating a kitchen knife. I attached a piece of 4" aluminum dryer duct to the bottom of the BBQ, then blew air through it using my GFs hairdryer in order to get the temperature up to where it needed to be. Worked very well! Make sure to use proper lump charcoal rather than those crappy briquettes..
 
Cool thanks! I wasn't sure if 1084 would hold up well as a light chopper so I wasn't sure if it was worth the time to make it. I'm def gonna try the charcoal grill idea though as I have a grill just sitting around.

Thanks for the info and by the way the knives you make are awesome !
 
Further to Aaron's post, you can put some sand in the pan of water then push the edge of the blade into the sand and water. This keeps your knife upright while you heat with the torch.

1084 is a great steel. Very tough and would make for a good chopper.
 
shane_o_ca said:
Further to Aaron's post, you can put some sand in the pan of water then push the edge of the blade into the sand and water. This keeps your knife upright while you heat with the torch.

1084 is a great steel. Very tough and would make for a good chopper.
Click to expand...

Ah! Great tip about the sand and water, I'll have to remember that!
 
jakeotter said:
Cool thanks! I wasn't sure if 1084 would hold up well as a light chopper so I wasn't sure if it was worth the time to make it. I'm def gonna try the charcoal grill idea though as I have a grill just sitting around.

Thanks for the info and by the way the knives you make are awesome !
Click to expand...

1084 is very tough! Should make a good chopper.

Thanks mate!
 
I agree with the others. You can draw back the temper on the spine if you want, but you don't need to. 1084 makes a very tough knife and with good HT, it has better edge-retention than you might expect. It also happens to be inexpensive and easy to work with.

Go for it :)
 
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