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A2 heat treat question

R

rick melear

Joined
Nov 28, 1998
Messages
926
I have several Reeve one piece knives in A2 at RC 55-57. I have often wondered if the edge retention would benifit from a heat treat at RC 60 or so. A few years ago there was some discussion about this but it never went any further. I would like to have one of my Reeve's brought up to RC 60 and wondered who heat treat's A2.
 
Just my opinion - I don't know much about A2 steel but.. If Chris Reeve has his blades at 55-57 Rc, then it's probably to make a tougher knife. As I understand those one piece knives are made for hard use. At 60 Rc the edge retention might be better but it might loose overall toughness. He probably did it this way because he thinks it's for the best and I'm sure he knows more about knives than most people. I think Rob Crisswell swords are A2 but differentially hardened but I'm not sure. Again, just my thoughts as I don't know much about this steel.
 
That's exactly how Reeve chose the hardness . I wonder if the effort to re-heat treat would be worth a little more edge retention.
 
I have a Chris Reeve Shadow IV. I'm very satisfied with edge retention. I've batoned that knife through some hardass wood and the edge held up great. IMO, I'd leave it as is.
Scott
 
I believe studies have shown that A2 is actually tougher at a Rockwell of closer to 60. Chris Reeve might have ease of sharpening in the field as one of the reasons for the lower hardness.
 
Just make sure you get them to anneal before they heat treat it over again, it might not be worth it though, and how hard is it to remove the handle? That might be the key question.
 
According to Crucible, Steve is correct, making me wonder why CRK uses 57 rather than 60? This data sheet gives a little more detail, but appears to infer that an Rc of 60 is preferred.
 
Fox said:
According to Crucible, Steve is correct, making me wonder why CRK uses 57 rather than 60? This data sheet gives a little more detail, but appears to infer that an Rc of 60 is preferred.
Click to expand...

Like I said earlier, ease of sharpening in the field is a big reason. Ease of manufacturing and finishing is another. Don't get me wrong, the Reeve one piece knives are great knives. I just believe they would be better at closer to 60 Rockwell.
 
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