- Joined
- Mar 5, 1999
- Messages
- 10
Do blades made from files and saw blades ned to be hardened? I made one from an Oberg file and it seems to be very hard already, does the heating of the blade when power sanding lower the hardness of the blade somwhat?
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beginner question
- Thread starter Kim McHenry
- Start date
Kim:
Files are already hardened and you can ruin the temper if you get to much heat from grinding. Take your time and check the temperature often, I do this by touching it to the palm of my hand.
The only bad question is the one that is not asked.
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P.J.
YES,it is sharp, just keep your fingers out of the way!
www.silverstar.com/turnermfg
Files are already hardened and you can ruin the temper if you get to much heat from grinding. Take your time and check the temperature often, I do this by touching it to the palm of my hand.
The only bad question is the one that is not asked.
------------------
P.J.
YES,it is sharp, just keep your fingers out of the way!
www.silverstar.com/turnermfg
Cougar Allen
Buccaneer (ret.)
- Joined
- Oct 9, 1998
- Messages
- 76,503
Files are hardened steel, not tempered. You may have heated it enough to temper it some -- probably did if you weren't being careful not to.
Without tempering it's pretty brittle for a knife but it'll hold an edge like crazy and won't break if you don't abuse it.
I usually suggest tempering a file at about 400 degrees in a home oven before grinding, but since you've already ground it, why not use it as it is? Unless you want this knife for prying and rough use -- in that case you should temper it. Use an oven thermometer; oven thermostats are not very accurate. They always read low and the older it is the lower it'll read.
Saws are usually good for knives without any heat-treating. Of course grinding tempered steel takes longer than if you anneal it first but if you don't have the equipment to do heat-treating and don't mind it taking longer, go for it!
-Cougar Allen :{)
P.S. I meant 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Sorry, I don't know what that is in real degrees; I never can remember the conversion formula. One of these days maybe the US will join the twentieth century and we won't have these conversion problems....
-Cougar :{)
Without tempering it's pretty brittle for a knife but it'll hold an edge like crazy and won't break if you don't abuse it.
I usually suggest tempering a file at about 400 degrees in a home oven before grinding, but since you've already ground it, why not use it as it is? Unless you want this knife for prying and rough use -- in that case you should temper it. Use an oven thermometer; oven thermostats are not very accurate. They always read low and the older it is the lower it'll read.
Saws are usually good for knives without any heat-treating. Of course grinding tempered steel takes longer than if you anneal it first but if you don't have the equipment to do heat-treating and don't mind it taking longer, go for it!
-Cougar Allen :{)
P.S. I meant 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Sorry, I don't know what that is in real degrees; I never can remember the conversion formula. One of these days maybe the US will join the twentieth century and we won't have these conversion problems....
-Cougar :{)
- Joined
- Mar 5, 1999
- Messages
- 10
thanks for the info, I appreciate it!!!
[This message has been edited by Kim McHenry (edited 13 March 1999).]
[This message has been edited by Kim McHenry (edited 13 March 1999).]