Best blade test

[Nosaltman]

Hey guys I am starting to make some knives out of carbon steels such as L6 and 1095. I feel like I am doing my heat treat correctly (thermal cycle 3 times then bring to non magnetic and quench in heated transmission fluid for approx 1 minute then let air cool then temper in oil at 375 for 1 hr). I am looking for some test I can use to see how well edge is going to hold up to be an above average knife (better than mass production knives you buy at Walmart or most hunting stores) what would you think are reasonable test. I can definitely get them to shave hair to start but wanted to know some fool proof fairly fast test. Thanks

 

[jklip13]

I have seen some HRC testing files online, they come in a pack of 3 or 4. Basically you run the files along an area of the blade (probably not the edge for obvious reasons) starting at the lowest HRC file and moving up until you have a file that bites into your knife. That file that no longer skips or bumps along the blade and actually cuts in is the file corresponding to the hardness of your knife. Don't really know if that made sense but each file has a different HRC and you can get a decent idea of how hard your blade is. You could also get a real Rockwell test done or just hard use it and see.