AEB-L Oyster knife heat treat

[Matt Rochester]

So I'm making a run of Oyster knives for the first time using AEBL. I have only used 440C up until this point for them and have tempered them to 57rc. What should I temper this AEBL to? Should I still do a subzero? If I understand it right I will have more RA if I didn't and wouldn't that be a good thing for an oyster knife? Thanks.

 

[Matt Rochester]

Will excess RA help with toughness?

 

[rustyrazor]

just for curiosity why the switch?

 

[Matt Rochester]

Just cheaper and easier to find in 3/32". I use it in a lot a my kitchen knives and only used 440c for oyster knives. Now I can order less varieties. I figured to have some input but it looks like we don't have many folks making oyster knives

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I made up a batch of 100 AEB-L oyster knives. I had them done at Rc59 by Peter's. I had Aldo shear the steel in 3/4" wide strips 48" long and just cut them off at 5". This sped up production time a lot. It took only a minute to profile each blade that way.

 

[Matt Rochester]

Thanks Stacy. I'll shoot for 59rc. What thickness?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

.070"

 

[Hesparus]

Stacy: I'd love to see photos of those.