M4

Thanks Larrin and Possum, that gives me an idea what to ask Paul to do with the blades.
 
Well, I decided to go "play" with some of the M4 and was pleasantly surprised that it grinds rather easily. I was expecting something like D2 or 3V. One thing I did notice is that even with a new sharp belt, it does heat up rather quickly when grinding. Do not know when I will get back to it though. Possum suggested grinding it down thin. How thin? Is 15 thousanths thin enough at the edge?
 
I doubt that Paul will heat treat it. A few years ago he heat treated a couple of CPM 90V blades for me, and said that these were going to be his last. He doesn't like taking the furnaces that high.
 
Walt2 said:
Possum suggested grinding it down thin. How thin? Is 15 thousanths thin enough at the edge?
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Well, in the context of a smallish knife made for fine cutting at high hardness, when I say "thin" I mean like .004"-.006" above the edge bevel. If you haven't done much work with such a blade, I highly recommend experimenting with it. :thumbup:

added- For heat treat it might be worth giving Phil Wilson a call- I think he still does high temp stuff like that for others...
 
Walt, saw my name come up here. I don't have specific experience with CPM m4 but it looks like it would be equal or maybe a tad better than CPM 10V. I would run it just like 10v and shoot for RC 64. That would be 2150 and about 1000 temper with my furnance. Paul Bos most likely will not want to do it. These high temps are just too hard on his furnance and if he gets an element burn out its a big deal for him. He is out of commission till he gets it repaired. I have done some heat treat for other makers in the past, a few here and there,. In this case I would do a blade for you in trade for a pc of steel for myself. I would like to try it on a small hunter Give me a call or e mail and we can work out the details.

Larrin, how are you? Missed your Dad at Oregon. Study hard and find a few hours to make some knives... PHIL
 
I only had one bar of the M4 and I have already cut it up into blanks. Thanks for the offer Phil, I had contacted Paul few months back and he said then that he will do M4, could have changed by now though. I will have to change my statement on grinding this stuff, it ground rather easily until I got past 220and went to 400. Then it was whoa, I just stopped there. I have not been able to get back and try it some more.
 
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