File knife made right?

G

gmackhurry

Joined
Feb 1, 2015
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I wanted to add a file knife to sit next to a few other shelf queens and I know nothing about them. I bought this one because it looks great. The show vender told me he cold grinds these as to avoid having to treat them after. After reading a few articles about file knifes I'm wondering if this knife was made right? It really doesn't matter as it just is there to look good but if I ever wanted to trade it off I would want to pass on the correct info and not give someone a brittle file with an edge. Is there a way to tell if this knife was made correct?
 
I hope I asked the question right. The reason I'm asking is because I'm not sure this blade had any heat treatment at all and from what I read so far that would just make this blade a brittle non durable knife.
 
Judging by the discoloration on the plunge, it wasn't fully "cold ground" and the grinding definitely got the blade hot. That would suggest that the heat treat state is completely unknown.
 
I dont see any discoloration at the plunge at all. I see a shadow effect on the plunge line itself due to the fact that the plunge line has a slight radius to it. You can see this because of the sharpened edge at the plunge. The file looks fine to me, but you can't tell "jack" about a heat treat by looking at steel.

The brass rod test, as mentioned, will be a good way to figure out if the edge is still hard but not too hard to be brittle.
 
Personally, I don't care for the huge unground portioni, ricasso / choil



Use it, if it chips it's too hard, if the edge rolls and needs way too much sharpening it's too soft.
 
12345678910 said:
Use it, if it chips it's too hard, if the edge rolls and needs way too much sharpening it's too soft.
Click to expand...

^This is about all you can do. Ya can't even have it Rc tested because there's no flat, smooth spot to strike it. For all I can tell it may not even be hardened high-carbon steel; it could be a cheap case-hardened import that's not even worth the Dymondwood pinned to it.

I'm not quite as "sold" on the brass rod test as many people are... it can give you an idea what's going on, but it depends a lot on if the edge is thin enough to flex in the first place. A soft but thick and/or not-very-acute edge won't flex against the rod, making you "think" it's plenty hard when in reality it will still wear/roll quickly in actual use.

Again, the best test for any knife, especially mystery steel, is to get to work cutting whatever it was designed to cut and see how it holds up.
 
For what it's for, in your case, if you think it looks cool that's what matters! Nothing wrong with that.
It's possible to make a fairly high performance file knife, but there's a lot to it- I'd rely on the reputation of the maker if I wanted one of those.
 
Thanks for the input. This is all good to know. I think I'll just leave it on the shelf as a conversation piece.
 
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