I've been using simple carbon steels so far and always normalized them several times before quench to refine the grain structure. Now I'm going to get some S5, D2 and 440C. I will be making a few blades by stock removal. I'm not sure if those steels are supposed to be normalized before quench as well. Especially D2 since it's an air hardening steel. Should I still bother with normalizing or is it not really necessary? I'll only have a basic forge to heat the blades and do the tempering in a kitchen oven.
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Normalizing before quench
- Thread starter Tomaz L.
- Start date
Ok a related question - how critical is the soaking time with D2? Obviously there's no way I can maintain a consistent temperature in a coal forge to soak a blade for 20 minutes or whatever.... But I hear some bladesmiths never bother with long soaking times and still manage to make decent blades out of D2.
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- Jun 25, 2001
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Tomaz L. said:
there is a difference between decent blades and the very best you can get from the steel..
if you just want to settle for decent it's up to you..
making with what you have to make knives with is one thing,
but don't think for a minute that decent is good enough,, keep climbing..
decent is just a measurement of ones expectations.
by reading between the lines your idea of decent right now is limited by what others say...
decent for me is a world of difference compared to yours right now,, I'm still looking for it.
It's like
going to the moon to look at it up close or to the top of a mountain to look at it..
keep pushing your limits and go for the moon and beyond..
