First heat treat!!

blgoode

blgoode

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2003
Messages
7,145
Well, I did it. HT'ed two blades tonight. The file skates accross the blade and the tip is hard. I am going on either it is or it aint! If its hard then it must be HT'ed.

I used a turkey fryer and cornolia oil on 1/8" 0-1, blades about 3 to 4 inches long. Next is to soften the spines. I have tempered them so I hope they hold an edge. It really wasn't hard at all. Just being consistant with color and getting an even glow THROUGH the steel not just the edge was my gut reaction while doing it. I quenched...normalised and hted twice before tempering. I am excited!!!

A month ago I hadn't finnished a single blade in my life now I have 1 done and 4 HTED to finnish. NICE:D
 
you could test the blade to make sure it was hardened probably. The brass rod test and some cutting tests
 
what is the brass rod testing? I dropped it again this morning with minimal damage to the tip. So far so good!
 
I had wondered the same question you did awhile back and did a search this is what I found. I forgot who the original people were to post it, so sorry. I copied and pasted parts that would help.

Our current practice is to push(blade) down (onto brass rod) until the edge deflects then draw the entire cutting edge across the rod. We expect to be able to do this at least three times on each side of the edge. The next step, providing all went well on the brass rod test, is to sharpen the knife. You have to be sure to work the edge down past where it was bent in the brass rod test in order to get a good long lasting edge on the knife. the bending back and forth work hardens the edge and I have had it come off in a long wire during sharpening. When the knife is sharp with no wire edge then you can begin to cut rope.

We use only one stand out of 1 1/8 hemp rope for our cutting tests.
you already know the reason. place your piece of rope on the cutting
board holding it rather close to the end. place your blade on the rope with the riccaso in contact with the rope. now push down and draw the blade back toward your body. you sould be able to cut through the rope and use only about an inch and a half of the blade. repeat the cutting process at least one hundred aand fifty time and you can feel good about yourself and your skills as a knifemaker.
 
humm..I dont get that test? Maybe I just read it too fast??
I dropped the blade tip down and the is minimal damage. If it wasn't treated well I guess it would ding quite a bit huh?
Thanks for the brass rod info.
 
the bending back and forth work hardens the edge and I have had it come off in a long wire during sharpening.
Click to expand...

I don't know that I believe that, after the HT cycle there should be no "work hardening". By pushing down and dragging the edge across the brass rod and watching the deflection you can see if it is too hard or soft. Too hard and the edge will chip, to soft and it will stay bent, that's how it was explained to me anyway.

Todd
 
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