Online Heat Treaters?

[salvetdj]

Hi all,
I'm new to the board and the hobby. I just bought a piece of CPM154 and have almost finished shaping my first blade from scratch. I had only done a few handles previously. Anyway, my question revolves around finding somewhere to heat treat knife blades. I live in a very rural area without an abundance of machine shops around, so I have been trying to find places online that you can send blades. So far my options are:

Paulo: asking 103$ to austenitize, cryo, and temper one blade
Texas knife supply: say they only air quench, CPM154 data sheet says oil quench necessary unless piece is thin
ALFE: don't work in small quantities

Anybody have any other suggestions? Also, is there a rule of thumb for the thickness of CPM154 that is reasonable to air quench. I'm using 1/8".

Thanks
David

 

[AcridSaint]

You don't need to oil quench it. Air or plate quenching will be fine.

 

[Steve Hayden]

Search Paul Bos. D' Holder may still be heat treating SS also.

 

[Patrickknives]

Here is a link to Paul Bos, I would ask him if he can do 1/8 cpm 154. He only does air quench

http://www.buckknives.com/resources/pdf/Paul_Bos_Brochure.pdf

 

[salvetdj]

Thanks for the additional info. I'll shoot him an email and see what he says.
David

 

[Tommegow]

You can get in touch with Peter's
http://www.petersheattreat.com/services.html

 

[silver_pilate]

I plate quench (a modified air quench...uses the plates as heat sinks for faster cooling than just air...and it can help reduce warping). For knives, the industry standard is plate or air quenching cpm154. The same with ATS34, 440C, 154CM, etc. Cryo will benefit these stainless steels as well if it is offered through your selected heat treater.

$103 sounds really high for one blade even with cryo, but hey, what do I know. I DO know that I heat treat all of my own blades, and if it costs me $103 to heat treat a single blade, then I'm not charging near enough for my knives!

--nathan