Newbie an discolored metal

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OABB

Joined
Aug 10, 2024
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Me an my son who is 11 are starting into the world of making knives
We decided to just buy a blank of steel an do stock removal to start rather than going all in on a forge at first
The question is we got a peice of pal 2000 steel off Amazon that is 1095 an 15n20 Damascus
When I was profiling the shape I got the tip to hot an it changed color
It says it is annealed should I be worried about hardness or what steeps do I need to take
 
if it hasn’t been hardened yet and it just turned purple or something it’s fine. If you got it hot enough to turn red (glowing red) it’s possibly an issue. It takes real work to do that with a grinder. One doesn’t do that by accident.
 
OABB said:
Me an my son who is 11 are starting into the world of making knives
We decided to just buy a blank of steel an do stock removal to start rather than going all in on a forge at first
The question is we got a peice of pal 2000 steel off Amazon that is 1095 an 15n20 Damascus
When I was profiling the shape I got the tip to hot an it changed color
It says it is annealed should I be worried about hardness or what steeps do I need to take
Click to expand...

Sounds like a fun project for you and your son.

"Annealed" means it's soft and not hardened.

Concerns with color change are when the blade is in the hardened and tempered condition.

So, there is no hardness to worry about, your blade still needs to be hardened and tempered.

Enjoy the weekend.
 
Welcome OABB, fill out your profile so we know where you live and something about you.
It helps with better answers and may lead to offers for help or supplies.

As the others said, there is no problem before HT. Once hardened, you need to be careful about getting it too hot.
 
That’s good an bad news
I am glad it’s not messed up but now I need to figure out how to harden it
Thank you for the help
 
You can find a knifemaker near you who will do it and maybe show you the ropes of HT.
You can send it out to a HT person who will do the HT and send it back for you to finish.

JT has started taking orders again. He does an excellent HT.
JTknives

Thread 'We are BACK'

Wanted to let all my people on here know we are back to offering our full service heat treating option. Most of you know we had to cut it off completely shortly after we had our little boy and we only did large orders for a few customers. Well the wife is back to allmost full power for shop stuff and we are back open. Currently we are set at a limited quantity per month till we can determine our monthly maximum. Last time we got so swamped we were months out on turn around. This time we are approaching it a tad different which should greatly increase turnaround. We also added a new much...
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If none of the above will work, send it to me and I'll harden it for you.
 
Well I don’t know any knife makers or blacksmiths or farriers to help me but watched some videos looks kinda simple but might be mistaken

Get it hot till magnet don’t stick an stick it in oil
But then I read different steels get treated differently so not sure
I will probably just send it out to make sure
My sons first knife is a success
 
Great project..👍👍👍......Please be sure to remember to share your blade with us....... Pics thru the.process might prove helpful for you😉.....Or just the finished product....... Best of luck on you and your son's endeavor..👌
 
OABB said:
Well I don’t know any knife makers or blacksmiths or farriers to help me but watched some videos looks kinda simple but might be mistaken

Get it hot till magnet don’t stick an stick it in oil
But then I read different steels get treated differently so not sure
Click to expand...
This is true, but if you're not worried about getting 100% of the hardness possible with that combination, what you said above will be adequate. Don't use motor oil (dangerous fumes), canola oil will work if you preheat it to about 130F before quenching.

OABB said:
I will probably just send it out to make sure
My sons first knife is a success
Click to expand...
This is the safest way to ensure no problems during this process.
 
Well I do appreciate all the advice an as soon as I figure out how to post pictures I will
So far we are really enjoying the process together an my son already has antlers picked out that he wants for scales

we have more work to do before HT like drill holes for pins an file the bevel
So in a couple weeks we will be sending it somewhere to get heat treated an Stacy if you are willing I might just take you up on that if I can’t find anyone close to teach me An my son
 
I'd be glad to do it. It won't cost you more than mailing the box to me. I usually fit a cut of nice handle scales to the blade and send them back with the blade for you to use. Extra goodies are usually in the box, too.
We can discuss it more by email.

Things to remember before HT:
Don't file the bevels too thin at the edge. You want an edge about .030-.040" thick.
Leave a little extra width at the edge. This will allow you to grind away the decarb and fine tune the edge as you finish the bevels post-HT.
Drill all holes. You don't want to have to do then after HT if you can avoid it.
Sand the blade to at least 220 grit, 400 is even better. This removes deep scratches and makes the sanding post HT easier.
Once the sanding is done and the knife is ready for HT, look it over well from all directions and decide if anything is off or the profile needs refining. Don't do it then but go to bed and look again the next day. If it isn't quite right, fix it before HT.

Things to double check - Is the spine smoothly aligned with the handle? You want the spine of the handle to continue on to the blade at a slight smooth curve. Don't make it too straight or the knife may look like a sharpened bar of steel. A little drop toward the tip is what looks best on most blades. Odd angles and finger bumps may look cool when you are making the knife, but rarely translate into ease of use or looks. The word we use most is "FLOW". The knife should flow from butt to tip in some sort of smooth fashion.

Posting a photo is a wise thing, as 100 pair of experienced eyes may see what you don't.
The stickys has how to post a photo.
 
I read how to post a photo an I will wait till someone alittle more tech savvy can help
In meantime I noticed it the knife has a slight bend to it after shaping can I straighten this out without heat or will that damage the steel
 
You can straighten the blade before HT easily.

If you mean the edge angle, around 15° per side is good for a skinner.
If you mean the full bevel, it does not matter what angle it is. It goes from spine to edge. You can't control it. Most blades have a main bevel of between 3° and 7°. Again, you don't choose it - it is a factor of geometry. For instance, a blade 1" high in .100" steel with a edge thickness of .010" before sharpenung will have a bevel angle of 5.732° inclusive (2.866 DPS).
 
Link removes per rules - see next post - Moderator

If this is able to work we are making two knives like these I guess they are a clip point style knife
 
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The Sharp Finger is not an easy shape to start on. The tip can be difficult to grind post HT without ruining the temper. You will have to grind a pass, dip in water, repeat. Hopefully you won't turn the tip blue. Most folks who do that grind use a water spray attachment like a Kool-Mist.
The tip is very fragile and snaps easily if you are not careful.


BTW, don't link images with prices for companies that are not BF members. That is against the rules.
You can copy the image only and post it ... like this:
1723506012874.png
 
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Sorry about that I was just try to get some sort of image of what I was making

Well I guess we will have to figure that out aswell I might be able to use an older wet wheel at my dads
 
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