Is It Possible To "Re-do" the Heat Treatment?

[redsquid2]

This question regards my first knife. It started out as a file, circa 1988. By way of stock removal,it became my first homemade knife.

My brother-in-law did the heat treat, and I guess something went wrong. He heated it with a propane torch, and then dropped it into a little tray filled with Wesson oil, probably soybean. It was done in his basement, in the dead of winter, so ambient air temp could have been low; maybe 50 degrees. It has never held an edge, so it has sat in my chest-of-drawers for most of 23 years.

Could I protect the bolsters, etc. while re-doing the heat treat? If so, would it require a special kind of clay?

It may seem like a trivial question, but this knife has always been a treasure to me.

Thank you.

squiddy

 

[mete]

You'd have to take apart the knife ,heat treat the blade and put things back together. You can't HT a knife with a propane torch. You have to heat the whole blade .You have to know what steel it is .Best to learn something about steel and HT before you attempt it !!

 

[redsquid2]

That little gap in front of the bolster is exactly 1/4".

 

[redsquid2]

You have to know what steel it is.

I have no idea. Just know it used to be a file.

Thank you for the information.

Assuming that there is no way of knowing what kind of steel it is, I could simply remove the blade, and replace it with a ready-made Scandinavian blade. I think it would be fun to re-purpose the handle with a Mora blade, or somethiing like that.

 

[Justin King]

You have to dismount the blade completely to re-do the HT, otherwise the brass bolsters will be near the melting point when the blade gets hot enough to harden properly, and the solder or adhesive that holds them on, as well as the grip material, will be long gone by that time.
You can probably heat treat it as W-1 and get decent results if it is a good-quality file but without knowing the actual alloy this is somewhat of a hit and miss proposition.

 

[SBuzek]

"It may seem like a trivial question, but this knife has always been a treasure to me."

Then keep it as a treasure,give it to the grandkids later with a good story of you and your brother.

Make a new knife from scratch.
Stan

 

[james terrio]

I agree with Stan 100%. Keep it and make another :thumbup: Steel is cheap, memories are priceless. (boy that sounds dumb, but you know what I mean)

 

[redsquid2]

...I could simply remove the blade, and replace it with a ready-made Scandinavian blade. I think it would be fun to re-purpose the handle with a Mora blade, or somethiing like that.

I made a drawing of what that might look like:

OAL = 6.5" with 2.75" blade. The photo makes it look more elongated than it would be IRL.


I could still keep the old blade, as a keepsake.

 

[Bo T]

If you remember the brand of file an educated guess could be made as to the steel. Is the tang only glued into the handle or do the pins go through the tang also?

 

[redsquid2]

I have no idea what the brand of the file was.

I can't get the blade out, either. I have popped the pins out, but then I still can't pull the blade out. I would still like to do that, if somebody can tell me how. I put it back in the oven for a long time, but it still won't come out.

 

[Carl_First_Timer]

"It may seem like a trivial question, but this knife has always been a treasure to me."

Then keep it as a treasure,give it to the grandkids later with a good story of you and your brother.

Make a new knife from scratch.
Stan

This, but it seems like it is too late. Darn instant gratification....