Cast Blades

[GOTTMILKK]

I have read about several makers casting there blades,but won't that destroy the steel? Since everything I have read says it is very important not to overheat the sleel during forging or heattreating.

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[e_utopia]

Casting is done before heat-treating, so the heat-treat 'fixes' the 'damage' done to the steel (on non-steel, for that matter).

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com

 

[Rex]

All steel is cast.It must be melted and poured into ingots, molds or cast continusly.
Steel is than rolled,hammered or forged or otherwise worked into shape and this mechanical working refines the grain and improves its strength.
As a note, Ruger and other gun companies cast their revolver frames and other gun parts and they are very strong.
Blades can be made in many ways,cast,forged to shape,stock removal(remember,even forged makers do some stock removal to clean up profile or decarb.}
After all this ,heattreating is probably the one greatest influence on final blade preformance.

 

[e_utopia]

I would actually like to add that casting, when done improperly, can result in impurities in the material, so the original answer to whether heat from casting is a problem still stands, but its's 'caveat emptor' (buyer beware) when getting cast blades from a small-time maker. You should always ask a lot of questions about how any knife is made before buying. That isn't to scare anyone away from custom knives, but just to watch out for the one jerk in a thousand who ruins everyone else's reputation.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com