I need some advice on HT and Process

What should my next step be for heat treating?

  • Buy some 1080/1084 and an Atlas Mini Forge to do it myself

    Votes: 1 50.0%

  • Buy some stainless steel and heat treat professionally

    Votes: 1 50.0%
  • Total voters
    2
C

cschulte88

Joined
Jun 22, 2016
Messages
20
Hi and thank you for reading my post!

I am a new knife maker and am really excited at making some cool knives for friends and family but I need some advice! I purchased a lot of 1095 steel and used most of it to practice grinding bevels on my new Northridge Tool 2x72 grinder! Some of the knives I want to HT and finish with handle scales but this is where my problem lies.

I have a couple of different choices I can go with HTing. I can either purchase an Atlas Mini Forge and do it myself or send them off to get professionally HTed. If I buy the Atlas Mini Forge I will try to switch over to a 1080/1084 steel after this batch of 1095 steel is used up but if I decide to send them out to HTed professionally then I am thinking about switching over to stainless steel which is better obviously.

I have not gotten a knife past the HT stage yet and I also live in an apartment where my shop is in a garage that is attached to a bank of 10 other garages but they are not attached to the apartment complex. I say this because I worry about starting fires.

My wife and I budget very tightly so I want to get the most for my money as well. I have $100 right now to either put towards saving for a Atlas Mini Forge or put towards HTing 10-20 blades professionally or to buy some 1080/1084/stainless steel. I keep go back and forth on what my next step should be and decided to get some expert advice!

If advised to professionally HT and start in on some stainless then what kind of stainless should I look at?

Thanks for the advice in advance!

~ SCHULTE KNIVES

www.facebook.com/schulteknives
 
In your position I would outsource the heat treat, and while I hate to say this, I would avoid accumulating too much shop equipment until you were in a more permanent location. Which may not be something you intend to do, I don't know. But when I think about packing up and moving, I start breaking out in hives and sweating profusely and thoughts of arson and suicide start running through my head, because as an advocate of vertical integration (doing as much in house as possible), that leads to having a lot of stuff.

Another upside as a newer maker is being able to focus your attention and resources to a narrower set of skills and knowledge.
 
If you plan on forging, you need a forge. If not, a kiln is more versatile and accurate. Optimally for a complete shop you will eventually need a forge and kiln. Save some money and buy what you need, not what you can get by with.
 
kuraki kuraki - Thank you for the response! We will be in this apartment for about two years....My wife and I call it our "Dave Ramsey Apartment" because we are following the Financial Peace University Program of getting debt free...darn student loans! I also get stressed out then I think that one day I will have to move all my tools to hopefully a more permanent home.

I just looked up the price of stainless steel and my jaw dropped! Maybe sticking with high carbon steel for a while due to price is a good idea. If I have it professionally heat treated I can keep going with 1095 because it seems way more readily available compared to 1080/1084.
 
That's a good plan. You can also use alloys like W2 or 80CRV2, which in my opinion generally outperform 1095, but are in similar price ranges.
 
Willie71 Willie71 - Thanks for the reply! I agree that I should save the money. I get impatient because the only thing I am unable to do myself is the heat treat. I would love to get an Even heat kiln but I will have to wait till the end of the year to afford it. I guess that is divine providence telling me to chill out, save and focus on honing in the skill of grinding and have a professional heat treat my 1095 steel.
 
kuraki kuraki - Thanks for the tips on other metals to check out! I will definitely do that today! Are those also considered High Carbon steels?
 
Check out the exchange here if you haven't already. Atlas has some forges marked down right now.
 
You can make a 2 brick forge and do a respectable job of HT with 1084 and canola oil. That's what I did initially.

2 brick forge, MAPP gas torch, I bought a cheap 1 burner coil hot plate thing to heat the oil to 130F and you are ready to roll. I picked up a stainless stock pot for the oil at Goodwill. I still have that setup and use it on occasion even though I have a HT oven.
 
Bricks for the forge were $5 each at a pottery supply place not too far from me. You can do blades up to maybe 4-5" with that setup. Oh and get a toaster oven and a kitchen thermometer as well for the tempering. I got my toaster oven for free from neighbors having a garage sale and it didn't sell but you can pick them up for cheap from Goodwill or Craigslist or something.
 
The first thing I would do is find a fellow knifemaker in your area. He may be able to do the HT ... or even better ... have you come over and teach you how to do it. Fill out your profile so others know where you are and a bit about you.
 
Just wanted to say kudo's to you and your wife to become debt free. You will be glad you made that step the rest of your life. You have a very wise wife.
 
FYI Aldo, a.k.a. New Jersey Steel Baron just got in a shipment of 1/8" and 1/4" thick 1084.

I'm in an apartment too and have used a two brick forge to heat treat up to a 7 1/2" length 1084 blade, though I left the tang unhardened. I leave the back open for a pass-through so the tip doesn't overheat and always keep it moving. Edited to add: I ALWAYS keep a full and functional fire extinguisher that's been tested within the last year handy when heat treating.

It would be less work to send out heat treat and tempering with my lack of equipment, but I personally like doing as much as I can myself. It's fun. :)
 
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