killing your heat treat

[Jim Beam]

I am finishing an ats 34 blade that has already gone through heat treat. i am really too new at this to be working with a blade that i could quite possibly kill by burning it up so my question is....
HOw much damage will i do to the edge if i burn it while finishing it with say a 400 grit belt, (by burning it i mean putting one of those little nasty black brown marks on it)?
thanks
j

 

[Ed Caffrey]

I would call it done right there. Once you start running colors from heat build up, it's just like tempering at too high a temp. If it's only in one tiny spot, you can get by, but expect a soft spot in the edge where the colors changed. About the only way I know to beat this is to grind with bare hands, patience, and a bucket of water close at hand to cool the blade between passes on the grinder.
http://www.mtn-webtech.com/~caffrey

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Ed Caffrey
"The Montana Bladesmith"

 

[Phillip Jones]

I could not have said it better, Ed.

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If a man can keep alert and imaginative, an error is a possibility, a chance at something new; to him, wandering and wondering are a part of the same process. He is most mistaken, most in error, whenever he quits exploring.

William Least Heat Moon

 

[Osbourn]

I put a little dishwashing soap in that water. It doesn't make much difference on stainless steels like you're working, but it slows down corrosion on the high carbons. It also breaks up surface tension so all your filings got to the bottom of the bucket rather than back on your blade with the next dip.
Smells good, too.

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Oz

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