My first knife - Getting closer, what grit to heat treat?

Looks like your getting close. Take your edge down to .010-.015" and you should have a nice slicer. I haven't used G10 for scales yet but have used micarta. The canvas can be had in OD green or Desert tan, since you're a Marine, and it has very good grip. It's not the easiest stuff to work with hand tools but neither is steel, and you have done fine with that! If you want wood I would suggest something oily and hard like Ironwood, Rosewood, Cocobolo, or anything along those lines. They are pretty easy to work with. Make sure you use a respirator with micarta or G10, it's some nasty stuff to be breathing. I wear one when grinding anything just to be on the safe side. Anyways, keep us updated and good luck.
 
Actually the Marines were a couple of years ago 83-87, but it never goes away. My real career was not much different but lasted a whole lot longer.
 
Got my Calipers in today.

My edge is .013 - .014 - I'm not sure how much filing I personally can do or should do on this blade.

At the widest part near the choil, The blade is right at 1 1/4" from spine to edge. I could work on filing the plunges more and make the blade 1 1/8" wide?

Not sure where to start back on this one at the moment.

Thanks
 
Sounds like you are ready for HT. The edge is a bit thin, and I would suggest filing it back a bit until the edge is .020"
 
Unfortunately the HT was done days ago before I owned calipers, So the edge was .013 when heat treated.

Now I'm at the point of trying to get it looking nice enough to justify scales. Worked on the plunge lines today with chainsaw file and more flat file. Close to just sanding the heck out of it until it looks like it is a knife - or not. Then deciding if I should try making scales for it.
 
You seem to be doing everything very well and this is a great way to step in the knifemaking world.
Very smart move seeking the advices from this great forum members :thumbup:

I'm not sure the step you're at now...if you have heat treated, how do you manage to still file the plunges? Are you using sandpaper around a dowel or using stones? The file shouldn't bite at this point.
 
DNickell said:
Unfortunately the HT was done days ago before I owned calipers, So the edge was .013 when heat treated.

Now I'm at the point of trying to get it looking nice enough to justify scales. Worked on the plunge lines today with chainsaw file and more flat file. Close to just sanding the heck out of it until it looks like it is a knife - or not. Then deciding if I should try making scales for it.
Click to expand...

Nothing unfortunate about that. I must have missed the HT step.

If you are doing the finish sanding, work with the 220 grit until the edge gets thin enough to be ready for sharpening. About .005 to .010", depending on the knife type. Don't take it to a fully sharp edge. Then sand up to the final grit you want. On first knives that is often 400 grit, but 1000 grit is a nicer finish. The sanding arm will make this sanding a lot easier and give a better result...kudos on making one. If the edge gets sharp in the sanding steps ( it often does), just dull it back with a few strokes of the sandpaper. When the blade is done sanding, tape it up while doing the handle work to prevent scratches.



I do have one concern:
You say you have done the HT, but say you are still using files??? Files should not do virtually anything on a hardened blade? After HT, all metal removal is with abrasives...sandpaper, stones, or grinder belts. Any normal file used to work a hardened blade would be ruined in less than a minute.
 
I am very confused at this point.

So I did my heat treat, or at least I heated the blade to cherry red, did not stick to a magnet. Quenched in heated oil. Did two tempers in the oven at 425 one hour each.

I used a chain saw file in the plunges to take a little off the messed up areas and a small flat file to clean up a bit near the plunges. the chain saw file worked well, the flat file not as much but it didn't get ruined. Maybe my HT didn't go so well? It turned black and scale material was left in the oil. It sanded off easily with 150 grit sand paper.

At this point, I want to make one more knife in a shape I actually like. I was going to try it on 01, but now I'm thinking of using the 440c SS I have and send it out for HT.

I can certainly file this blade if I need to so I'm guessing my HT is no good.

Judging by this advise, I thought it was the norm to file more after HT. Just a little confused. I feel like I'm spending numerous hours in 100 degree heat sanding on something that will never be a knife.

"Some people may advise going a bit higher with the grits before HT, maybe 220-320ish. I think this has a lot to do with it being easier to remove metal pre HT then after the blade is hardened. The more finished you can get it now the better. But realistically you are going to have to grind again after HT anyway. I usually stop at 100x before HT. It's a lot more work after HT but this is MY way. Your blade looks very good now. I know you don't like the way it looks at the moment. Keep in mind, there is a lot more meat on a knife than you think. There is plenty of material on that blade to correct thicknesses, true up plunge lines, make transition lines crisp, change the profile, etc. The fact that some of your edges are soft is probably a good thing because it will cause less stress on the blade during HT. Heat treat the blade the way it is now. You should be fine. Then after the blade is heat treated and tempered you can do all your clean up including making your plunge lines crisp. Don't worry about the different thickness of the tang. Just make sure the surface around the edges is smooth and transitions well with the ricasso. You can even hollow out a pocket in the tang to hold more epoxy. Just stay away from the edges. When you glue up your handle slabs and clamp them, they should follow the contour of the tang and give you a seamless joint. You're doing fine. This will be a very nice knife."
 
Concerning using a file post heat treat.....right after the quench (no temper), a file will completely skate off of the steel. It will not bite at all. The reason....your steel is harder than the file. Files are generally around 64HRC or so, and if it skates off the blade without biting in to the steel, then your steel is above 64HRC. (files can be 63-66 in hardness). Many knife makers (hand raised) will use this as a quick test to see if the heat treat went as planned. However, after you temper the knife, of course the hardness is brought down....and if using O1 (and you reached max hardness after quench)....then 425F should bring you down to about 61HRC...which is great for O1. The temper has now made your blade a couple of Rockwell C points below the hardness of the file. So you would indeed expect a file to be able to bite, but not much bite, and obviously the life of the file will be compromised if you use it on 61HRC steel. I love my files....they never see anything but annealed steel. If and when the time comes for post heat treat clean up of plunge lines etc, then abrasives is the best option. Good quality sand paper/belts, and some guys use EDM stones.

Normally, I will take my edge down (post heat treat) to about .005" for fine slicers, .010" for hunters, .020" for knives seeing heavier duty. Be careful going under .020" PRE heat treat on carbon steels! Certainly doable...but risky....bacon edge and warping....not good.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top