Differentially Heat Treated Stainless

Is Differentially Heat Treated Stainless:

  • A lot of Hype

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Interesting but not Significant

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • A significant improvement

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • A major revolution in the world of Knives

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    0
I didn't vote(didn't have a choice I needed), but I would want to see the results of complete metallurgical(sp?) testing, before I ever had it done to mine.
I'm talking about the inside, not what it looks like on the outside.

There was(is?) a guy down in the Gulf region of Texas who advertised differentially tempering for stainless(in Knife World). I called him about it years ago, and he didn't seem too sure how he got it that way, but said some divers used a couple of ATS34 blades he did, for their underwater needs and thought they were great.

I need a little more than that.:confused: ;)
 
I can not vote either because my thoughts are not among the choices. I would vote 'very interesing' and leave off the 'but not significant' part of that choice. I do not get Blade so won't be able to see the article. Is Blade available across the counter or do you have to subscribe?

Roger
 
Blade is available across the counter at Barnes and Noble and Borders here.

It may be available other places.

The article was a one pager on the very back page.
 
Thomas Haslinger made some comments regarding his process yesterday on The Knife Collectors' List. I have forwarded this thread address to him in case he'd like to comment here. Perhaps he will post his note to the List, as it made some nice commentary.

Personally, I think it is excellent that people start working outside the box of formulaic HT's on stainless and see if there are properties to the high alloys that we can manipulate more than we have in the past.

It will be very interesting to hear some of the technical data that will be assembled as time goes by if this proves to be a good advancement of our knowledge base.
 
Does the article offer any technical details concerning the method(s) of HT?

Thanks. RL
 
Mike , you did spell it correctly, thanks .I do agree that looks are one thing but what's on the inside is important.As Roger has discovered the more complex the alloy, the more critical the heat treating.He doesn't go into the details but is the spine in the annealed condition ? Has he heated the edge long enough to properly dissolve the carbides ? Could he do it better with a more simple stainless like 440C ? S30V is such a fine knife steel that I wouldn't play with it just for the hamon and S30V is certainly tough enough even for the ChrisReeve Green Beret.
 
Originally posted by rlinger
Does the article offer any technical details concerning the method(s) of HT?

Thanks. RL
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't, Roger, and i think the info is meant to be proprietary for now.
 
Mike, there's a maker down in the San Diego, CA area that does differential tempering of SS, and has since about 1994-5. He's a friend of Paul Bos, but I don't remember his name. :confused: ;)
 
It'd be cool to know who that is. Maybe it'll come to you in an odd moment. that's how it works for me...
 
I can not, off hand, think of anything too mysterious about differentially hardening so long as the oven is atmosphere controlled to allow for quick oil quenching. Differential tempering would be much more difficult because of the sometimes higher tempering temperatures and the relatively long temper times. Differentially tempering a high alloy may require the spine area to temper so hot as to compromise that area's corrosion resistance.

At first glance, like Mete says, I wonder about it being worth the effort.

This is especially interesing to me since I am at this moment HT'ing my very first RWL-34 blade. It will not be differintially HT'ed :D

RL
 
I don't see any advantage to differentially tempering SS, or even non stainless, for that matter.

I see makers doing it mainly as a style thing. The Hamon, etc.I can understand it in a sword that may take tremendous abuse, but knives?? And why small hunters?:confused:
 
Originally posted by Mike Hull
I don't see any advantage to differentially tempering SS, or even non stainless, for that matter.

I see makers doing it mainly as a style thing. The Hamon, etc.I can understand it in a sword that may take tremendous abuse, but knives?? And why small hunters?:confused:
Click to expand...

Coolness factor??? :D
 
Cuz we can Mike. ;)

honestly, part of reason I do it is so that if I change my mind on pin placement for handles(or change mind on handle completely), still have softer steel to work with.

That being said, a lot of it is just habit. I edge quench, and I'm used to it, and con consistently get results I want, so don't wanna change now and risk not being able to get good results.
 
Thomas is a chef, I think. He makes a lot of "kitchen" knives. Interestingly, in his note on TKCL, he said one of the major properties he finds advantageous is that it changes the harmonics of the vibration when doing a lot of chopping, and it tires his hand out less. At least, that's how I read it.

He also said it's done in a furnace, no torch heating, and is both differentially hardened and differentially tempered. That's about all the "technical" info he offered. I would be curious as to whether it involves any clay packing, and whether it uses edge or full quenching. I don't think we're going to find out real soon.....
 
Originally posted by fitzo
Thomas is a chef, I think....
Click to expand...

God help us all!!;)

A few years ago, my wife alerted me to a local radio program having a knife discussion.
Turned out to be a bunch of "gourmet" chefs from Sedona:rolleyes:, all raving about knives that never have to be sharpened.

I called, and got into that discussion, unfortunately;), and tried to tell them that no such steel, or ceramic exists. They didn't believe me! A year later, two of those knife experts looked me up, wanting me to sharpen their miracle knives. :D

They weren't even Ginsu knives.:eek: ;)

Edited to add; This is not aimed at Thomas. Mike's post merely reminded me of that incident.:D ;)
 
yeah i'm a chef but i do know that no such steel exists. and can't believe how many guys in the industry get sucked into knife gimmics.
 
All my knives to date have been hunter size and smaller. My longest blade length has been about 4 1/2 inches. For the size knives I like to make I agree with Mike completely - even for carbon steel blades. On the other hand I can not think of a reason differential HT'ing would be a deficite, just maybe not required.

The subject is interesting though and even more interesting because of the obvious difficulties in differintially treating high alloys as opposed to carbon steels.
 
We’ve known Thomas for several years. Our family considers him a friend.

Thomas was born in Germany where he later was trained as a chef. Several years ago he moved to Canada and a few years later started making knives.

Thomas is what I consider to be a typical German craftsman. He is detail oriented to the point of being anal. He continually tests his knives and is always refining his processes. He scrutinizes every detail of his knives.

Last July at the Montana show Thomas showed us some of the knives that were differentially heat treated. The hamon was very clear. Thomas said he was still developing the process and asked us to not say anything.

I compare differentially heat treated stainless steel to mosaic damascus. It may not make a knife more functional, but it shows what a skilled craftsman can do.

I’ve always loved the beauty of a well defined hamon. I appreciate the talent of the knifemaker who can make a nice hamon. Living in the Seattle area requires my daily carry knife to be made from a metal that resists or will not rust. I would love to have a hamon on my EDC knife.

I agree with Mike Fitzgerald that it is nice to see someone pushing the limits.
 
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