David W Babcock
Black Metal Forge
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
- Messages
- 80
Good Day,
I’ve used 440c and 154 CM/CPM 154 before. I wanted some 440C for a set of three matching kitchen knives requested from a customer. I was given N695 instead being told it’s virtually identical. Well after some research I followed the heat treat from Bohler Uddeholm who makes it and checked it’s composition and did some google searches and it seems like it’s actually more like VG10 than 440c.
I’ve never worked with VG10 before or N695 but it seems like I’ve gone through twice the time and twice the abrasives I normally do. It seems like I get a smudge that leaves black markes that even sandpaper has a hard time removing. I’ve had to cycle through some clean belts and found certain belts work better than others. The zirc belts I had really seemed to causevthis smudge.
Has anyone ever run into this before? I followed all advice for heat treat, cryi, and temper. My Rockwell files put it at 59-61 (hard to tell for sure with the files) but they are hard. I did leave the blades a little thicker than I suppose I needed to about .025 as two are long and didn’t want warpage.
Have I done something wrong that sticks out to a more experienced maker, is this a characteristic of this steel? They look like they are going to finish up beautifully but of the abrasive costs and my time I should have priced the job at least $100.00 more!
Regards
I’ve used 440c and 154 CM/CPM 154 before. I wanted some 440C for a set of three matching kitchen knives requested from a customer. I was given N695 instead being told it’s virtually identical. Well after some research I followed the heat treat from Bohler Uddeholm who makes it and checked it’s composition and did some google searches and it seems like it’s actually more like VG10 than 440c.
I’ve never worked with VG10 before or N695 but it seems like I’ve gone through twice the time and twice the abrasives I normally do. It seems like I get a smudge that leaves black markes that even sandpaper has a hard time removing. I’ve had to cycle through some clean belts and found certain belts work better than others. The zirc belts I had really seemed to causevthis smudge.
Has anyone ever run into this before? I followed all advice for heat treat, cryi, and temper. My Rockwell files put it at 59-61 (hard to tell for sure with the files) but they are hard. I did leave the blades a little thicker than I suppose I needed to about .025 as two are long and didn’t want warpage.
Have I done something wrong that sticks out to a more experienced maker, is this a characteristic of this steel? They look like they are going to finish up beautifully but of the abrasive costs and my time I should have priced the job at least $100.00 more!
Regards
