Can I leave the post ht finish on a chisel ground knife?

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

The title pretty much sums it up, but this is what I want to do.

I want to leave the post heat treat finish on a couple of chisel ground knives (ground one one side is what I really mean) for aesthetic reasons but I'm not too sure about it. I'm worried that if I only grind one side of the blade to sharpen it the decarb on the back of it will give me a very poor or useless edge.

I think I've seen chisel ground file kiridashis that were ground on one side where they left the file pattern on the back. I'm guessing that isn't a good practice? I like the file look.

Should I put a big microbevel on the "back" of the grind? Just grind off the whole back?


The larger knife is getting a copper handle with a black patina rubbed off of the high spots. The way the knife looks now with the black scale and bronze temper color poking through is what I want.

I want to just grind in a microbevel on one side and leave the rest of the finish. If that is a bad idea...

Could I grind the whole knife like I usually do then re-temper it for that golden tempered look then patina it?

Grind it all and only patina it so it looks close? I'm thinking plum brown.

 

[AcridSaint]

If you intend to put a patina on it, then I would not leave oxide coloring on it. I can't answer about the file, as I've never made a knife out of one.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

If you intend to put a patina on it, then I would not leave oxide coloring on it. I can't answer about the file, as I've never made a knife out of one.

Thanks Acridsaint, I appreciate your response.

I'm guessing the oxide would make the patina odd or not stick, makes sense.

I think my next "file" knife will be O1 or 1095. I'll texture it with a checkering file!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I would not leave any scale or forge finish on the slicing parts. Spines, upper flat surfaces, and handles...OK, but backs and cutting bevels should be smooth, clean, and flat. If you plan on doing any special patina finishes, you will need to clean off all HT scale.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

Thanks Stacy, I appreciate it.

I'm probably going to grind the whole knife like I usually do then.

Maybe I can try a ferric/copper plate patina for the look I want, I need to start looking into it.