making my first knife

[sk230]

I bought a German made kitchen knife from a thrift shop. I am planning to turn it into a hunting knife. I would like know how can I soften the steel and how difficult would it be to re-temper the blade back to its original hardness after reshaping. I know the blade is stainless and made by Wusthof.

 

[S.Alexander]

There are a LOT of variables here. If this is your first attempt at modifying a knife, I suggest that you don't try to anneal and re heat treat the knife. It may be stainless but it is an unknown steel. You would have to know the steel type to redo the heat treat after modding it.

Here are my suggestions if you want to modify the knife as is:
- knock the edge off of the knife so you don't cut yourself
- if you want to reprofile the blade shape, do so with a belt grinder without annealing. Do not let the blade get hot when you are grinding it down. It will ruin the heat treat if it gets too hot. Dip the knife in water after every few passes on the grinder to cool it down.
- change the handle material if you wish
- re sharpen the knife

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I would order a pre-made blade in the style you want from Jantz, Texas knife supply, Sheffield, USA Knifemaker, Knifekits, etc. Put a handle on it and enjoy your knife.

Moding a Wusthof with no equipment and no experience will give you a bad knife at best. Annealing and re-hardening it will be nearly impossible without extensive HT equipment and experience.