Did I do a bad thing?

[stillshot2]

So I decided to be a custom knife maker today but was a little impatient and went too fast with a grinder trying to take down the spine of a blade and reshape it. I was stopping and dipping in ice cold water every few seconds but must have done a pass too long because the blade was a little off colored brown in some areas, including near the tip, but I took stones and sandpaper to get past the discoloration and get those parts back to normal steel color and refinished it pretty well. It looks ok now but is there a chance I messed up the heat treat? Is the blade weaker now? I'm not super experienced with the knife making process but tried this on a $60 knife with hopes I'd want to carry it more which I think I do now as long as it's safe to do so?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Brown can be caused by flash rust as well as heat. Both sand off.
Blue is what you don't want to see.

 

[eveled]

Even if it were ruined, you learned something. Education is not cheap.

It sounds like it will be ok. Next time be patient. Go slow.

 

[butcher_block]

i keep a spray bottle of water by the grindere for times when i need to be more careful. like grinding straight razors

 

[stillshot2]

Ok

Brown can be caused by flash rust as well as heat. Both sand off.
Blue is what you don't want to see.

Awesome this is what I needed to know

Even if it were ruined, you learned something. Education is not cheap.

It sounds like it will be ok. Next time be patient. Go slow.

Yeah I probably shouldn't have decided to do this in the miserable mid day Arizona heat that made me impatient. That's exactly what I decided going into this, there is always the risk of ruining something but the experience gained is priceless.

If I ever experience catastrophic blade failure I'll update the thread but I'm thinking it will be ok.

 

[Gilbert M]

Be careful with the tip and heel areas of the the knife. For me when I'm getting near final edge thickness I dunk the blade often, and make sure it mostly stays wet. Think of boiling water temperature. Some people use bare hands, I use a combination of push sticks and bare hands. Sharp belts too.
Gilbert

 

[J. Hoffman]

My blades get dunked after every pass. It's part of my muscle memory now. You don't need ice cold water, any water will do. After a long grinding session I noticed my quench bucket temperature rise noticeably.

 

[Ben Kabisch]

i've got a mister that i use when grinding blades...keeps blades cool and my hands from being burned and i'm able to grind a little faster by not having to dunk the knife all the time