Is it bad to do this to knives?

J

jasperjb

Joined
Jul 24, 2012
Messages
217
When you hold up a lighter to the steel it makes darker marks which just wipe off. Is this doing anything bad to the steel at all?
 
Depends on how hot it gets. Too hot and you risk ruining the heat treat. The black marks themselves arent doing any harm, theyre just soot. Maybe I'm missing something but why would you ever do that to your knives in the first place?
 
mkjellgren said:
Depends on how hot it gets. Too hot and you risk ruining the heat treat. The black marks themselves arent doing any harm, theyre just soot. Maybe I'm missing something but why would you ever do that to your knives in the first place?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure. Just for fun I guess. Makes it look cool! Like a tiger stripe pattern. Hahaha.
 
Point proven why young kids shouldn't own nice knives..... or anything nice for that matter.
 
^^^ Lol.

You shouldn't do this. You could mess up the heat treat. Especially if you're holding it on there long enough to get a good bit of black soot on it. I think the funnest thing you can do with your knives is to use them or sit back and enjoy them. I mean, if it's what you like to do, go for it. But you could be messing with the temper of the blade. I just wouldn't.
 
Well this thread was a laugh on a dull Monday morning anyway. "Skippy"! :D
 
I do it all the time. When I'm in "survival mode" and cut myself, I heat up my blade and use it to cauterize my wound.
 
jasperjb said:
Hahahhaah good one. I don't think I'm *that* stupid. :D
off topic: what are the knife laws in NZ like?
Click to expand...

They're ok, I prefer not to carry a larger folder in public, I just carry a Vic minichamp in town as it wouldn't even be questionable to a cop. if im outside of town I can carry what I want if 4"or under. I can own anything manual, fixed or assisted
 
Does a lighter flame really get hot enough to affect the heat treatment ?
Honest question, I could imagine it would on the edge, because the material is really thin there, but the rest of the knife would probably take hours to get hot enough, right ?
 
C_Becker said:
Does a lighter flame really get hot enough to affect the heat treatment ?
Honest question, I could imagine it would on the edge, because the material is really thin there, but the rest of the knife would probably take hours to get hot enough, right ?
Click to expand...

But the edge is the most important part of the knife, isn't it?

Butane gas flame burns at 1,970 degrees Celsius. While this heat isn't transferred instantly nor in it's entirety to the item being heated, it still isn't the sharpest thing to do by anyone.
 
C_Becker said:
Does a lighter flame really get hot enough to affect the heat treatment ?
Honest question, I could imagine it would on the edge, because the material is really thin there, but the rest of the knife would probably take hours to get hot enough, right ?
Click to expand...

Torch flame lighters burn at something like 1200 degrees... I'd say that is plenty hot.
 
Buy a pack of colored Sharpie markers. You can "color" your blades all day, and in various colors too. :D

In all seriousness, the only time I could imagine heating up a quality knife blade would be if I had to perform some kind of emergency surgery. And man, I hope that day never comes.

I can certainly see heating a cheap knife to cut/melt certain materials. I do this to cut nylon web strap (I heat the blade with a blowtorch). But I use a designated cheapo knife and couldn't care less about how the heat might effect the blade.

I'd strongly recommend against heating the blade of a valued knife just for the fun of it. like others have said, you might negatively affect the temper.

Of course, if you're lost in the woods and have to perform an emergency appendectomy, well...
 
EMS-Free-Shipping-Strider-SMF-DGG-tiger-stripe-Tanto-blade-surface-titanium-handle-tactical-knife-high.jpg


Always wondered how they did this! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top