heat-treat files?

J. Neilson

J. Neilson

Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
3,621
I have come across a supply of nicholson/black diamond files which I read in "Blade" would make very good knives. On some I burned out the temper to heat-treat myself and on some I ground them carefully to keep the hardness. I need an opinion on whether I should I retemper the blade(files) that I kept hard. Also, what other files are good for knives? By the way I am a "newer" maker so please expect more questions. Thanks.
 
Welcome, J! This is a great place.

My first knives were ground from files too, and not rehardened. It worked well enough that one of them became known forever after as the "Mad Slasher" knife. (But that's another story. Suffice it to say I had enough stitches to prove it was sharp--very sharp!)

The downside of that was it was too hard to drill, so the handle scales fell off. Epoxy does fail, eventually.

Dave
 
Dave, Thanks for the reply. I was going to anneal the tang and spine so that should solve the pin/file-work problem. I hope, I hope. And I'll watch my fingers. Thanks again.
J.
 
J.

I also welcome you to the forum. As a new member, you have not yet had the chance to preview all the great ideas and even some "miracle" fixes, the guys and gals have shared...

If you want to try and make some knives from files without re-hardening and do not want your handles to fall off, try "spot annealing..."

This I learned about from the message traffic on the forum, I do not remember who to credit...

This came out when one of the members forgot to drill the holes for the pins for the handle. The suggestion was to chuck a nail--16p (head and point cut off) into a drill press and then "try to drill a hole" in the tang at each location you want a hole for the pins.

Of course, you can't drill a hole with the dull nail, but what you are doing is spinning the nail under pressure and the resultant heat from the friction will anneal the steel enough to come back and really drill a hole with a real drill bit.

I tied it and it really worked. It might take you several times to get the steel soft enough, but it will happen. Just remember, the steel needs to cool slowly.

One more bit of advice, be sure to cover up the "biggo" hole in the drill press table or the sustained pressure and heat might warp the handle.

Good Luck...

Bruce Jensky

PS: Try out the search routine and you will find lots of problems already solved. It might even save you the embarrasment of asking how to get a broken tap out...
 
Thanks Bruce. Sorry folks, I'm really new at this computer thing(I didn't even know there was an archive search). That tip will save me(and all of you) alot of time. Thanks again.
J.
 
J---
Bruce has a lot of good points on the "spot annealing". However, if you are not disturbing the heat treatment of the file and you wish to attach some handle material. Try using J.B. Weld (rough up both pieces and wait about 16 hours) it works great! I'm still throwing an old file knife I made a few years ago and used J.B. Weld to epoxy on the handle material. You can find it at Ace Hardware stores and Walmart across the country.-Good luck

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Try a RAK-(Random Act of Kindness)-you'll like it!
 
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