hot rolled stock

[blgoode]

How flat is hot rolled stock? I havde a shoert platen to grinding a long piece flat may not be an option.

Should I find precision ground stuff?
B~

 

[Jared Stenoien]

i dont know about others, but i got a piece of hot milled 5160 and it has a few surface spots on it but otherwise it's pretty flat.

 

[Mike Hull]

It's not flatness that concerned me. Some hot rolled stock I got in the Past(440C, ATS34) had a surface hardness that was very hard to get off. It was like HRC 80 it seemed. Would turn a new 977 belt smooth in seconds.

It was like the stuff was case hardened. I finally had it surface ground.

I've since tried one of those "bubble belts" meant for taking bark off only and it worked pretty good. John Mallett of Tru Grit handles them, or used to.:thumbup:

 

[Matt Shade]

If you're worried about finishing large flats on a big blade, it could go either way. Hot rolled should be flat enough that you can smooth it out and finish it without too much work,unless you've got really hard scale like Mike brought up (I've run into it a time or two also). I've never had any problems with it varying too wildly in thickness or anything though to where it would be hard to work with for a fixed blade.
Precision ground can also be a toss up though because it will depend on what grit they ground it with. I've had some bars that had what appeared to be about 80- 120 grit tracks running the length of the bar. Those can be a real pain to grind out, especially when you consider that the bar was already ground down to the finished dimension you wanted and now you're taking it thinner. Other peices have been ground to a much higher finish and cleaning up the flats was no trouble at all.

 

[blgoode]

thanks guys....sounds like the solution is just just order some steel, and make a knife and then do it again.over and over Sometimes I tend to think to much about teh little things....

I'll stick with precision for not I guess.

 

[mlovett]

I thought that hard surfaces from the mill was a thing of the past. All ATS use to come this way. I would be suspicious. ATS is delivered in the pickled and annealed state. If not, It may not be real ATS-34. There several sources that have been known to deliver questionable steel. Admiral for one. Ask before buying if it is pickled. If you have steel in such a hard surface state you can pickle it you're self. Use white vinegar. It will remove the scale. put it in tupper ware, for 24 hrs. Works great. Smells like your making pickles. Mike

 

[butcher_block]

If you have steel in such a hard surface state you can pickle it you're self. Use white vinegar. It will remove the scale. put it in tupper ware, for 24 hrs. Works great. Smells like your making pickles. Mike

i had been wandering about just how that was to be done thanks