Help heat treating Near Portland Or

[tcbrady]

Hello Bladesmith community,
I have started a very ambitious project of making a straight razor. This is my first attempt at making a knife on my own. I've assisted with making knives in other peoples shops but never on my own. I've had a billet of beautiful stainless Damascus(aeb-l and 304) that I've had for a long time. I decided its time to make it into something. I'm happy with the profile and the edge geometry is getting close although it certainly has some uhhh... character/beauty marks. The challenge I have is I lack proper tools to heat treat the blade. I suppose I could do it with a torch but probably not the best idea for a beginner I'm hoping there is someone in the area with the tools that would be kind enough to let me heat treat in their shop. It would also be nice to be able to finish up the grinding with proper tools.

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[rybobales]

You won't be able to heat treat that with a torch. Aeb-l is at least 1,940f which would then need to be held at that temp for at least 5 mins. To get the most out of it it will need to be sub-zero'd. My shop is currently down or i'd be happy to help. I've sent some AEB-L to TruGrit and had fantastic results. IIRC Adam Vigil on here uses them for his AEB-L. They are in So-Cal so the shipping is fast and cheap.

 

[Aidenag]

You might try contacting joe edson, of edson razers. Hes in corvallis not too far south of portland. Not sure if hes setup to do stainless work, but makes some insanely nice lookin straight razers. And would be a great resource for your project.