Hardness for camp knife

G

Goblin13

Joined
Dec 26, 2016
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So I am making my first camp knife from 1084 Steel with a 6.5" blade. I'm doing this to test it out chopping and for edge retention when finished. What would be a good rockwell hardness for the blade?

Below is a chart I found for 1084 online does it look correct for tempering? Thank you all in advance for the advice!

Temp Rockwell Hardness
F HRC
300 65
350 63-64
400 60-61
450 57-58
500 55-56
550 53-54
600 52-53
650 50
 
If you're doing a lot of chopping I'd say 56-58 sounds good so it would still hold an edge fairly well but be more likely to roll instead of chip if you hit something hard.
But it also depends on the edge grind and what kinds of wood you'd be chopping.
 
No particular wood, just wanted to see if I could make a knife that will hold an edge after heavy use. I'm a beginner with only 3 knives made.
 
If you got that chart from Mr. Cashens website, then it is absolutely correct ASSUMING that you can get your austenizing temperatures right. I use 1500/400F for anything that I make out of 1084. Never had a problem. If you are nervous then try 425F. That would give you the hardness that Stacy suggested. I still get a chuckle out for the "hardcore" knife companies that say that they have some super secret proprietary heat treatment for 1095 that leaves the stuff as soft as 55-56. IMO, there is no reason to leave a steel that soft and a couple of reasons not to.
 
Not sure of the exact heat before quenching, I am using a coffee can forge and carried it to nonmagnetic. I think I'll go for 425 like you suggested. Thank you!
 
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