Can you flame straighten stainless stock?

C

ChefBleu86

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Jan 25, 2023
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I've got a 1/4" thick piece of AEB-L stock with a bit of a rocker to it. Whats the best way to go about straightening it? I know stainless has to be heat treated in an oxygen free environment, but will hitting it with a MAP torch before shaping my (stock removal) knife ruin anything?
 
Just bend it cold in a vice. You might even want to overcorrect as it is likely to take the same bend in HT.
 
I pondered this one, If I recall, as with many of the stainless steels, it primary purpose is for the manufacture of razor blades. in an industrial setting I suspect that the steel would be supplied in large coils, Depending from where on the coil your strip has been cut will determine how severe the retained memory of the steel is evidenced.
The only way, I suspect, to prevent warpage in HT would be be to stress relieve it prior to making the knife or prior to the HT process commencing.

I don't know the procedure for the process but there must be one out there somewhere.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. After I got the blades profiled I think the warp is small enough to be workable pre heat treat. I'll see how things look post HT and go from there!
 
If it hasn't been heat treated yet and is just a bar you can simply bend it straight by holding it in a vice and flexing it the opposite direction of the warp. Keep in mind that AEB-L is notorious for warping during heat treatment and could require straightening afterwards, a carbide tipped hammer is usually used for that.
 
I highly recommend running a stress releiving step before ht. I just finished up heat treating 50 AEB-L blanks for a friend, most around 0.080 inches thick. With the stress relieving step and clamped quench plates had almost zero warp and they all went into cryo. Only had to peen 3 out of the 50 to straighten.
 
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