If you're looking to see $6/7 per blade from Peters, you'll need to send them 20 at a time. That's what I do, and it's very cost effective.
Me too.
Generally it works out to around $8 per blade, including shipping both ways. Plus, cryo and individual Rockwell testing of each blade is included.
That right there gives me a lot of peace of mind.
I usually work with fairly complex steels, and there's no way in heck I could deal with them for anywhere near that price in my own shop. The electricity alone would be a deal-breaker, never mind the time, LN, testing, the fact that I can't do 20+ blades at once in a shop kiln, etc. While one batch is on the way to HT and back, I'm working on the next batch.
I've also found that telling clients Peters does my HT actually helps me sell knives. People who are really into this sort of thing have heard of them and their long-standing reputation for quality. You might be surprised to learn how many fairly-big-name makers and manu's have their stuff HT'ed by Peters. Why more of them don't advertise that fact, I don't know. (I'm told the same is true of Bos HT... their reputation is excellent as well, but they don't deal with oil-quenched steels... Peters does, and sometimes I need that.)
Not too long ago, I sent Peters some blades that, unbeknownst to me, had been mislabeled as to steel type*... they realized something wasn't right when they Rc'ed them, let me know, figured out what they
really were by use of a fancy x-ray gun thingamabob, and re-heat-treated them appropriately - at no extra charge.
If they hadn't taken the time and care to do all that, I would have been stuck with a bunch of essentially useless blades I couldn't sell, and would have pissed away a lot of labor and belts for nothing. This is my job, and margins are slim - a goof like that could have fouled up my whole month in terms of groceries and the mortgage payment.
What could have been a
very expensive disaster that set me back weeks ended up working out just fine... because the Brad and the crew at Peters really know their stuff and care about getting everything just right.
That, friends, is a dang good bargain, even at twice the price. :thumbup:
*incidentally, the supplier who sold me that mislabeled steel took very good care of me when I let him know there had been a mistake. That kind of service makes me loyal to certain vendors and service providers.
