For mid-sized blade stock (1/8, 5/32, and 3/16) do you grind pre-HT or post?

[Steelhog]

Hey all. For mid-sized blade stock (1/8, 5/32, and 3/16) do you grind pre-HT or post? Wondering who is in what camp and what advantages/disadvantages that approach.

 

[ChristoDart]

https://imgur.com/a/GANzQK2

I go about this far with pre heat treat just so I don’t sheer off grit from my belts as quickly.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Mainly I profile and sometimes basic bevels on thicker blades - then do HT.

Just a comment - the size stock you listed is pretty thick. 1/8" is all most knives need. Kitchen and fillet blades are in the .060-.080" range. About the only times I use .125" is on heavy use hunters.

 

[JoeBusic]

I grind all post HT. Grinding is with high pressure so it's going fairly well. This way it's easier to deal with bends and use plate quench. And no care about decarb as it's surface ground after HT.

 

[Jcdelamater]

Depends on the steel and likely-hood of warping. I've had issues with AEB-L warping in heat treat so if I'm doing something thin I'll grind all after HT. For mid-sized stock I'll do some before, most after. For D2 I've never had a warping problem so I'll do 80-90% of my grinding before HT.

I have noticed that my bevels come out cleaner when grinding hard steel, probably because when (not if) I make a mistake it is not nearly as deep.

 

[Robert Erickson]

Depends on steel type and stock thickness.
AEB-L is prone to HT warping and so anything thinner than 0.125" I do all grinding post HT.
High alloy/high wear resistance stainless steels I'll do most grinding pre HT.
Most carbon steel I'll grind down to 0.02" pre HT.
I don't use a lot of steel thinner than 0.078", but when I do I'll do post HT grinding no matter the steel type.