Charcoalforge and stainless?

B

Bart student

Joined
Nov 17, 1999
Messages
676
Hello folks,

In my previous tread, I was wondering about kitchen knives, and how they could whitstand a dishwasher. Now, for the blade, A carbonsteel will not do (rusts and tasts funky), So I decide it would have to be a recuperated blade of a stainless steel. I told so too, and someone replied that stainless can be done in a charcoal forge.
Since I have always heard otherwise, can someone please explain how it is done excatly? Is it any different than carbonsteel? How about hardening? Isn't that supposed to happen in a vacuum oven? Or do you leave 2 mm extra to grind off and reduce the negative effects ( if any ) of the forged stainless in charcoal mix?

greetz & thanks, Bart.
 
The major negative affect of heat treating is decarb, and that can be prevented in a charcoal forge easier than most by putting it on the reducing layer. I'm told that the usual heat-treating foils will work as well, though I haven't tried any of them. If you don't use the foil, it's a good idea to leave a little extra to grind off.
As for specific methods, it depends on the stainless. Very few of them are easy to heat treat under any circumstances, though, and most benefit from a cryo cycle.
The hardening is the easy part, the tough part is tempering. You generally need very careful control of temps for extended periods to temper a blade properly, and some stainless steels require draw temps of 900f or so, so they can't be done in a conventional oven. I'm sure some of the neo-tribal types have some ways around this, though, if they would lower themselves to work stainless. :>
What steel were you thinking of?

------------------
Oz

"This is your life, and it's ending; One minute at a time."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
hello Osbourn,

First of all, thanks for your reply.
I was thinking of D-2 for smaller knives that really need sharpnes ( for paring, peeling and decorating food ); 440B for bigger knives that need less sharpness but more stainless.
Both are about the easiest obtainable stainless steel for a forger like me in Europe. What is that heat-treating foil anyway? Aluminium foil? or something else ?

greetz & thanks, Bart.
 
The heat treat foil is a kind of stainless steel from what I understand. It's available from some knifemakers suppliers.
D2 isn't stainless, it's happy to discolor and rust. It only has 12% Cr, and I believe the cutoff for stainless is 14% or more. I've heat treated D2 in my gas forge. The hardening was easy, it's the tempering that took some work. I ended up going with three cycles @450f and that seemed to work pretty well. You have to be VERY careful when forging it, though. I've ruined several pieces when I hit them too cold. I have no experience with 440B, so I'm afraid I can't help on that one. Check this site for info on a variety of steels and heat treat procedures. http://www.engnath.com/public/intable.htm
Hope this helps.

------------------
Oz

"I'm politically opposed to the word 'Impossible'."
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/
 
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