4140 heat treat

[Onies]

Hi,

I am still relatively new to knifemaking, and have decided to experiment a little with different steels. The local Metal Supermarket has lots of O-1, but no 1095. I understand that 4140 can make a decent blade, and its roughly $3.00/ft. My question is, can 4140 get beyond a 53-55 rockwell, and does it make a decent blade steel?

Thanks,

Fred

 

[mete]

4140 is not suitable for knives as it doesn't have enough carbon. It does however make good 'hawks, and hammers .

 

[Evan Martin]

mete what about machete's do you think it would be suitable sorry for the hijack but needed to ask the question saved me a thread thanks

 

[mete]

BTW they also make nice anvils of 4140....I'd rather use a higher carbon steel for a machete such as 5160 or 1080.

 

[jll346]

4140 is not suitable for knives as it doesn't have enough carbon. It does however make good 'hawks, and hammers .[/QUOTE

Could not be further from the truth! True it can not get up past 55 Rc but that does in NO way not make it knife worthy. Take some time and go over to Blindhorse Knife Company and ask them about 4140. They just finished a run of Bushcraft knives all made from old saw blades which were 4140. I emailed them about the the exact question you had as I was skeptical myself. They said they did a ton of testing and had more than excellent results.

On that note I purchased one and worked the living S*** out of it! Low and behold it preformed FLAWLESS. Will it need to be hit with a strop more than 1095, sure. But don't be fooled. All's I did was strop mine when I got home. Years and years ago there was non of this Rc BS. People just made knives and used them. Granted Rc is a great tool and measuring stick but it does not make a knife!