grain of blade material?

N

naynay58

Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
2
I have a Case XX knife # 6143 with brown bone handles, it is a daddy
barlow. The grain of the blade material runs from the butt to the
point of the blade. The bolster grain runs in the same direction. Most knives
I've seen have the grain of the blade running from top to edge of blade. Is this grain running the length of blade uncommon? It appears to make the blade much stronger. Would this be the case? (Ha-Ha)!
Any input would be appreciated. Naynay58
 
Welcome to Bladeforums! I'll move this thread to the Blade Discussion forum for you....

I think what you're calling the grain of the metal is actually the direction it was polished in.
 
Yeah, I'd agree with Cougar_Allen on that one. Sounds like you're talking about polishing marks. What way they're oriented wouldn't affect the strength of the blade.
 
When the raw steel arrives in my shop it is usually cut with the grain or more correctly the direction in which the metal was rolled running lengthwise on the strip or sheet. I layout my blades with this grain in mind trying to take advantage of every bit of strength in the raw material, just in case there is a carbon line or cold shut that I cannot see.

After heat treating I make sure that all scratches from grinding at right angles to the cutting edge are removed as these can act as stress risers then I polish the blade lengthwise to a mirror. Why polish lengthwise? because it is easier and safer to polish along the length of the blade than across the width. Polishing leaves a very fine hairline trace on the surface that you are probably seeing.
 
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