Beginner Question: 1084 steel chopping knife

[jakeotter]

Hi I'm fairly new to knifemaking. Made a handful so far but all have been smaller knives (4.5" blades and less). I have some 5/32" thick , 1.5" wide 1084 stock that I wanted to make into a chopper (maybe 8" blade..?). My forge is just small two brick so I would have to send away for HT and tempering due to the size. I figured differential tempering would be best for 1084 but if I send away I'm guessing the entire blade will just be an even temper. Sorry now to the question !... Would it even be worth my time making the knife from 1084 if it cannot be differentially tempered? Or if anyone knows how I could do that after getting the knife back maybe that would help..? Thanks !

 

[Bo T]

You might have better luck posting in the knifemakers forum. But, a uniform heat treatment will give you a uniform hardness. To soften the back all you will need to do is heat the back to a high enough temperature to soften it to the desired hardness without heating the edge above the original tempering temperature. Usually, this involves heating the back to a blue color with iron or torch while keeping the edge no darker than straw. And immediately cooling the blade when the colors are reached.

 

[jakeotter]

Sorry about that! I didn't even realize there was a different forum for that. Thanks for the info !