Grinding thin Elmax

TooQuiet

TooQuiet

Joined
May 5, 2011
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I've acquired some .086" Elmax that I'm going to make my wife a Santoku with. My question is should I grind this before or after HT? Target hardness will be 61-62. Thanks.
 
You could get the initial bevel set at least. That would make it easier to take to final thickness once hardened. It could be pretty difficult to set the bevel on hardened elmax...it would use some belts too ;)
 
How thin should he go at the edge? (since I too have some elmax the same thickness and I am making a Santuko for my aunts 60th. ) :P
 
I've sent .015" to Peters with great results. With that thin of stock I'd be a bit more conservative....020-.025"
 
OTK is correct that grinding Elmax hardened takes more work than annealed, but that's true of all steel to some degree, right?

I don't want you to be scared of grinding it post heat treat. These days I set a bevel at around 10 degrees or so before heat treat and bring the edge down to about .035" to .040" of an inch just to give me something to lay on the platen. All of my grinding after that is done post heat treat. I grind D2, Elmax, CPM 3V, and others all post heat treat and it's not as big a nightmare as some folks think. Use good quality ceramic belts ( 3M gold cubitron 60 grits are my favorites ), and don't do more than a couple or three passes between cooling off the blade and you'll be fine. With stock that thin you may have to dip in the bucket more often, but it can certainly be done.

One of the benefits of grinding post heat treat that I really like is that you only have to go through the higher grit belts one time. Also, the thicker the stock is when you heat treat it, the less chance of warping. Even the pros don't get it exact every single time. Thicker equals better odds.

These are just my opinions and what I've found that works for me. Play around and see what method you like best. Good luck!:thumbup:
 
I'm suggesting you cut your outlines and drill the holes if any that are needed, heat treat it, and then do your grinding. Elmax grinds very well after heat treat. It will also finiush very well. Certainly it will require a bit more of the grinding belts but if you use 3M cubitron 11 in 60 or 80 grit to start the grinding will goi very well. Frank
 
I'm going to stray a bit from the pack and recommend a grind to at least .020 for that knife pre heat treat. I hate grinding post and often do a fair amount of hand finishing on a granite slab. I'm not sure if Elmax has a greater tendency to warp than AEB-L, but I've taken AEB-L to .007-.010 pre HT and been very happy I did.
 
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