How do I re anneal my CPM 154 without an oven?

G

gixxer

Joined
Sep 21, 2006
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Ok, so I have this piece of said mentioned steel and after attempting to grind on it with a piece of dull sandpaper till it was too hot to touch with gloves--several times--, I can no longer get any form of serious stock removal when I use a fresh piece of sandpaper on my disc sander. Not to mention it wears out the paper faster than my other blades.:confused: I would love to dump this one and cut another blank, but that is not really cost effective right now. I have no knifemaking oven, or forge. What I do have is charcoal, a chimney firestarter, and a burner to get the charcoal started. I have the idea to place the blank in the center of the charcoal, fire it up, and let it burn out till the charcoal is completely used up. That is about the closest thing I can think of to get it up to a hot enough temp (guessing there) and get a super slow cool off. Any other suggestions or a go/no go would be greatly appreciated. I had seen others talk about work hardening, but like an adolescent, I was in denial that it could happen to me. Shame on me for not realizing that you grind blanks to make knives, not to burn your fingers!!
 
delbert ealy said:
You Don't!
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true ish

you can not aneal most of the high alloy steels the right way with out a kiln
the deal is if you have a kiln you can re aneal the steel to at least a to a sub critityal aneal the ? is how much time and power are you goignto use are yu wiling to heat tot 1650 hold 2 hours and cool no faster then 25F per hour to 1200
if yu do the math you cant realy do that in coals and even in a kiln it take great time and power to do the right way

i will have to say i dont think you work hardened the steel i just think its harder to grind then more simple steels (i grind a lot of cpm154)
 
The problem is more in your choice of grinding tools and paper than the state of the steel. CPM154 is a lot tougher to grind than O-1. You will have to get it a lot hotter than finger burning hot to harden it,too.
Stacy
 
butcher_block said:
i will have to say i dont think you work hardened the steel i just think its harder to grind then more simple steels (i grind a lot of cpm154)
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Unfortunately I do not know how other knife steels grind since I have been using CPM154 exclusively since I started making knives;) ! You mean the other stuff grinds easier??:D It just seemed like this one piece has been kicking my butt more than the others for some reason. I do plan on using another form of steel sooner or later I guess.
 
Actually, I've found CPM154 easier to grind than S30V and about the same as 440C, 154CM and ATS34. Crucible Steel says CPM154 is easier to grind and machine than standard 154CM. It is certainly easier to finish! Can't comment much on the non-stainless offerings because I don't have much use for them.

The few damascus blades I've done have been similar to the above steels. The exception is some old 15N20 bandsaw blade steel that is sitting in the low 40s for rockwell and work hardens very easily.

Annealing your blade properly would mean keeping the kiln at high temperatures for something like 18 hours - very expensive for the power. It would be cheaper to buy a new piece of steel unless there is something sentimental about the current work.

Rob!
 
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