I'll never buy hot rolled steel again!!

P

PlaceKnives

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Man I bought some hot rolled 1/4" thick 440C for a couple of projects I'm doing, and the surface is so pitted that I've ground it down to almost 3/16" and there are still deep pits in it!

I'm just not willing to buy 5/16" thick stock to make a 1/4" thick knife.

How do you guys deal with this stuff? It's awful! I'm used to precision ground, but this time I thought I'd save some money, I'll never do that again! Now the knife I've slaved away on for so long is thinner than I wanted and is all pitted up.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

See my handmade knives here...
 
You don't deal with that. Unacceptable. I would notify the distributor and see about getting an exchange or your money back. I mean, you always deal with pits in as-rolled bar stock and have to grind down, but your case sounds bad.
 
I agree. I've bought some hot-rolled, and while It's had to spend some time on the 12-inch wheel, it has never been as bad as you describe yours to be.
 
Thanks for your input guys, I'll look into it. I'm new to hot rolled steel and thought it was all this bad.

Take care.
 
I have never got any steel as bad as you describe but some has been worse than others.

A couple of batched where thiner they were stamped out of a large sheet. That was very untidy along the edge. The flat bar stock dipped from the edges to the center. I did not know any better and could not afford better. I make my own damascus now. I use very little 440.

My suppier buys in bulk from the US so I can't find out where it came from. It may be worth a try with another supplier.

I only dream of being rich enought to buy prcision ground. If you have the money to get it it may be the way to go.
 
There is a middle ground between hot rolled and precision ground...cold rolled. This material is scale free and relatively smooth finish, some minor pitting is occasionally found but is easily removed. My big complaint with hot rolled is the carbon scale that takes so long to remove.
 
I got some 440C like that years ago. The rollers at the mill must have been full of scale as the barstock looked like it was rolled on a meat tenderizer.
The 3/16" stock quickly became 5/32", or less. I sent it back.:eek: :barf:
 
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