First build on my own (work in progress)

Would it still be viable to test my heat treat out? Like, will this knife just snap in half at that burn spot? Or will that burn spot just chip out?

I'm tempted to finish the handles and everything since I have the cut already. I figure I might as well do my first handle job on a blade I'm not worried about screwing up.
 
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The burned spot will not chip out it is now softer than the rest of the knife. Finish the knife...
 
rocketmann said:
The burned spot will not chip out it is now softer than the rest of the knife. Finish the knife...
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I'll do just that.

The important thing here is the lesson learned. I was on my last 1" belt, and tried to push it. I should have hung it up for the 2 days it would take to get more belts in.

Lesson learned. :thumbup:
 
If its just a user/tester for yourself... I wouldn't scrap it... but I wouldn't sell it to anyone. As stated before overheating doesn't make it brittle... It softens it. So if your knife is gonna snap or chip out, it won't be there... lol. You may never notice the difference.

Nice knife..... reminds me of Gossman's PSK... they are very popular amongst the W&SS guys. Post the finished piece there. They'll dig it fo sho!

Rick
 
If you're grinding knives after heat treatment, a good tip would be to not wear gloves. I don't know many people who can hold a 400+ degree blade and not notice it. Dunk in water when the blade gets warm. Don't push too hard and be especially careful around the edge and tip. The tip will burn even faster than that edge did if you dig it in just right.

--nathan
 
chemikillz said:
what was you method to heat treat the knife
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Heated in a charcoal forge to non-magnetic. Quenched in quenching oil. Tempered to 400 degrees for an hour twice.

silver_pilate said:
If you're grinding knives after heat treatment, a good tip would be to not wear gloves. I don't know many people who can hold a 400+ degree blade and not notice it. Dunk in water when the blade gets warm. Don't push too hard and be especially careful around the edge and tip. The tip will burn even faster than that edge did if you dig it in just right.

--nathan
Click to expand...

Ya I don't wear gloves. This one just burned FAST. I pushed way too hard on a worn belt. In the blink of an eye it was burned clean through.

That's a great tip though. I am very cautious around the tip, but I need to be equally cautious around the edge.
 
I like that you put your mistake up for all to see. Keeps us all humble, and reminds me what to watch for. Good post. Thanks. Keep working with it.
 
Quick question.... I did a little more grinding and all the blackened part came right off. I figured if both sides blackened then it had burned straight through. Is that part still soft even though there's no visible blackening?
 
The blackening (probably more accurately, purple-ing or bluing) isn't a burn. It's a surface oxidation that occurs in conjunction with heat. If the heat is controlled, you'll see a color range from very light to straw yellow to purples and blues. You can actually see the yellows and straw around the edge of the darker spot where heat wasn't as high. Typically purple and blues run from 530F to 600F. So if those colors appear, you've gone well past your temper.

--nathan
 
Well.. here it is. I'm not going to bother smoothing out the handle completly or putting any sort of finish on it. It's just going to get the tar beat out of it anyway. Here's hoping my heat treat holds :thumbup:

IMG_0883.jpg
 
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