62 RC too hard for a thin 1095 blade?

R

rockfishbrewery

Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
35
Hello,

I'm working on making my first stock removal knife, a 10" boneless meat slicing knife.

The spec is as follows:

  • Length = 10"
  • Blade thickness = 1/16"
  • Blade material = 1095 steel
  • Edge angle = 15 degrees per side
  • I plan on sending it off to Peters' for heat treatment

My question is this: I am planning on having my knife heat treated to 62 RC. Would that be too hard for a knife of this type? I'm not too concerned about toughness, as this knife will be used for slicing boneless meat, and some veggies (I have other knives for heavy work). What do you suggest?
 
62 sounds good to me, but you may want to consider grinding the bevels after heat treat. the biggest problem here is that it is so thin, and the quench required for 1095 is rather sever, so you may get some (or maybe a lot) warping. Why 1095 anyway? are you sending it out for heat treatment? If you are going to send it out why not choose a stainless?
 
I think 62 is a good for your intended use. It's not uncommon to hear about japanese slicers being in the mid 60's.
 
62 sounds good to me, but you may want to consider grinding the bevels after heat treat. the biggest problem here is that it is so thin, and the quench required for 1095 is rather sever, so you may get some (or maybe a lot) warping. Why 1095 anyway? are you sending it out for heat treatment? If you are going to send it out why not choose a stainless?
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Wouldn't grinding the bevel after heat treating, screw up the heat treat?
 
If you over heat it yes. I would go for 59-60RC personally I don't like 1095 at 62.
 
Would it be better if I made that knife out of A2 steel?

I have a 3/32 blank of A2 that I can use. It would make my blade thicker than i would like, however I will go that route if required.

What are your thoughts?
 
.060 is pretty thin for a 10" blade unless it is a fillet knife and you want flex.

I would use the .090 A-2 and make a slightly stiffer blade. The extra .030 thickness won't matter at all if the edge is right.

I think you would be better at Rc60.

30 degree included angle is pretty high for a soft meat slicer. Try around 20-25 degrees.
 
Thanks everyone for your assistance.

It looks like I will shift my focus a little bit: It seems that making a long/thin slicer knife may be a little too ambitious for my first knife. With such a thin knife, there isn't much room for error. I am going to re-design my knife to be more of a thicker chef's knife, than a thin slicer.

Lesson learned, I will definately have the guru's in this forum review future knife specs before I sink money in materials and R&D time.


Thanks
 
for what its worth A-2 would be less likely to warp in the quench since it can be air or plate quenched.
 
1095, Rockwell 62 with a thin edge should be fine for slicing. As far as the edge warping goes, a little warping along the edge won’t make a big difference in performance,… just cosmetic. A bit thicker along the back with a full flat grind might be helpful with the overall geometry.
 
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... actually, the way you have it will probably be fine, but I'd expect a little warpage, which shouldn't be a problem unless it's way out of whack. That's the heat treater’s problem though. You might want to talk to them first, see if they’ll even do it.
 
Yup. Call Brad at Peters. He can talk you through what he wants in your blade. I haven't personally sent knives to him or talked to him. But, my buddy has sent quite a few knives to him and there is always feedback available from Brad. Also, I love carbon steel myself so I won't push you to stainless. Good luck!
As far as being careful on grinding the bevels post heat treat, I am not sure I'd go that route unless you knew you were comfortable with your grinding skills. I'd hate to pay Brad $25 plus shipping and mess up the heat treat by getting it too hot, or worse yet messing up the grind.
Good luck! I'm going to grind a couple kitchen blades this weekend!!
 
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