AEBL Finish

[Judcargile]

Does stainless have a point were the polish gets too fine? I find that it is smooth as glass, but, it seems really spotty. I

t may be that I move to a paste @ 800gr and go up to 8Kgr.

 

[JV Knives]

Not sure of the exact question but I’ll say that AEBL can take an exceptionally refined and polished finish. It’s certainly suited for mirror finish work. Hope that helps. Maybe add some pics to show your condition.

John

 

[C_Claycomb]

How was the steel heat treated and how close to final size was it before heat treating? I am wondering about surface decarb. Shouldn’t apply to AEBL, but I have had spotty finish with oiled quenched steel when I filed and sanded to finished size before HT.

My own, limited, experience has been that AEBL does not get as readily shiny as RWL34/CPM154. I usually either hand sand to 1200, or belt to 800 with a cork belt loaded with green chrome. Not had any problem with either being spotty. The RWL34 was ground mostly before HT while the AEBL was all ground post HT.
Chris

 

[Gilbert M]

I had an AEB-L knife heat treated early on and it had spots sort of like a random hamon. Never found a good answer and it was very hard to photograph. Only one blade came back with the spots. (It's been a looong time)

 

[DevinT]

Try using the 3m microfinishing paper.

Hoss

 

[Judcargile]

Decarb was substantial

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

If it is mainly on the flats I think it has a "can" that needs to be ground away. I chased this issue on folders and guess that might have been it. The issue always went away with more surface grinding. It has been so long I forget if this is 100% accurate...

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

If it is mainly on the flats I think it has a "can" that needs to be ground away. I chased this issue on folders and guess that might have been it. The issue always went away with more surface grinding. It has been so long I forget if this is 100% accurate...

AEB-L is cast and does not have a HIP can like Elmax, M390 and M398.

Chuck

 

[Alpha Knife Supply]

Decarb was substantial

Please describe how the AEB-L was heat treated.

Chuck

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

If you heat treated without a bag or something to protect the blade from decarb that is the problem.

 

[Alex Topfer]

How big are the spots?

 

[Judcargile]

I used the clay and have used the varnish and recently, foil. My packets did leak,but, the decarb was like soot; Whereas, the coatings had patches that were deeper.
Oddly, I did finish by hand with 1k and 2k grit paper and the spottiness cleared up at once. My DIY polishing paste may be cutting wonky?

 

[Judcargile]

Please describe how the AEB-L was heat treated.

Chuck

ATP641, 7-10 minutes @ 1980F ribbon burner w/PID controlled temp loop showing a 15F swing in under 10 seconds. Plate quench, clamped and submerged into cool water. The batch is then hung into a 10L dewar of LN2 for 1hr. Tempered @ 200F for 2 hours and bring to ambient temperature and repeat.

 

[Judcargile]

I get 2K+ for 2-3 sec which exceeds the rating of the coatings. Foil at least cleans up faster.