Hey there BF. Im finally nearing that time during the knife making process otherwise known as heat treating... The blade is made of 1095 and it was done using the stock removal method with all hand tools except for profiling with a bench grinder. Anyways, my question is does a knife that is made using stock removal need to be normalized before quenching? I understand forging puts a lot of stresses on the crystalline structure of the steel, thus the need for normalizing but is the case the same here? Thanks in advance guys.
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is available! Price is $250 ea (shipped within CONUS).
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/
Normalizing?
- Thread starter BChou-E29
- Start date
Bailey Knives
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2004
- Messages
- 3,818
I think it is always a good idea to normalize steel. You never know exactly what the factory did, and normalization can bring the steel right where you want it before heat treat.
Just my opinion.
Just my opinion.
Grinding steel also induces stresses in it. When grinding, swap sides every few passes. I would normalize 1095 regardless of how you shape the blade. Check Kevins stickies to help you do it right. Proper normalizing cycles will first make the grain size even, then bring it down to a smaller size in steps.
Erin Burke
KnifeMaker...ish
- Joined
- May 19, 2003
- Messages
- 1,330
As LRB mentioned, grinding can induce stress in the steel. To relieve stress, you don't necessarily need to normalize, but can run one or more "stress-relief" cycles (for 1095, I heat to 1200F then air cool). This process has the added benefit of revealing any warps that may pop up prior to final HT... allowing for straightening before the quench.
So whether you need to normalize or not depends on the condition of the steel you are working with. The 1095 and 1080 that I buy from Kelly Cupples, in my opinion, gets little benefit from a normalizing cycle. I simply run sub-critical stress-relief cycle(s) after shaping (and before quench). The Don Hanson W2 that I had forged down to bars by another gentleman definitely needs to be normalized (to refine the grain)... AND it also benefits from a good sub-critical anneal prior to shaping.
I'm definitely not an expert in these issues. I also recommend reading Kevin's stickies. Most of what I learned about sub-critical stress relief came from his posts.
Erin
So whether you need to normalize or not depends on the condition of the steel you are working with. The 1095 and 1080 that I buy from Kelly Cupples, in my opinion, gets little benefit from a normalizing cycle. I simply run sub-critical stress-relief cycle(s) after shaping (and before quench). The Don Hanson W2 that I had forged down to bars by another gentleman definitely needs to be normalized (to refine the grain)... AND it also benefits from a good sub-critical anneal prior to shaping.
I'm definitely not an expert in these issues. I also recommend reading Kevin's stickies. Most of what I learned about sub-critical stress relief came from his posts.
Erin
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2003
- Messages
- 2,361
Erin recommends my advice, but his advice gets my endorsement. :thumbup:
A good stress relief is best after grinding, the intense temperatures and decarburizing effects of actual normalization are a bit much at this later stage.
A good stress relief is best after grinding, the intense temperatures and decarburizing effects of actual normalization are a bit much at this later stage.
Thank you all for this wealth of information. I'll go with the stress relief cycle instead of the normalizing as I previously planned. Kevin, I've read a lot of your stickies but I just wanted to get the info straight from the horse's mouth since this is the step I've been fearing 
Again, thanks for the help guys
Again, thanks for the help guys