overheating steel

Ed thanks for the notes on reading an etched blade. I heat treated a few this weekend and am going to take a look at them. I had a sense that I'd overheated one blade and made a mental note of which it was; this should give me a sort of standard for comparing them. They are all from the same batch of steel. I really don't know what I'm looking for so it'll be a real experience. Thanks very much for your help, I'm sure there will be more questions along this line later. ;)
 
Mr. Fowler, I checked out the "Best Hamons" thread. I'm new to the forum so I had not seen this before. Stunning. Inspiring as well. Something to shoot for. Thanks for pointing it out to me. Etching is definitely the way to go. I'm curious to know what a blade looks like if etched too long. Thanks. Todd
 
Quick question for anyone - how far should I take the finish before etching? (I'll remove the etch after study.) I can see the temper line at 400 grit but I'm hoping for some good resolution. This is O1. Should I etch a mirror finish or stop somewhere short of that?

Edited to add, I have six blades of the same pattern that I'm doing concurrently; would it be a good thing or a waste to etch them all to check the consistency of my heat treating. I had one of particular suspicion that I'd planned to do, I think that suggests I should do them all for comparison. Or am I just being compulsive? ;)

Thanks,
 
Hello Dave:
I take my blades all the way down to an A-6 or a Norton X-5, then to a Brownells 555 black, then 555 grey, then etch. I etch all my blades and would not sell one that I had not etched. That is how important reading the steel is to me. Etching is an absolutely critical part of my quality control. Not only that, I get the same thrill from each blade as the pattern develops as I do from opening a Christmas present.

Dilute your etchant 4 water to 1 part etchant. Try about 15 minutes in the etchant, then stop the etchant with tsp and water. Buff her up with 555 grey, if you need more etch go longer in the etchant solution. I clean the blades with acetone before they go into the etch.

I looked back through the posts on this thread and see I neglected to mention that Richtig fully hardened his blades rather than differential hardening. I had one of his 6 inch blades that I would flex to 90 degrees in my hands for any visitor that was interested. After over 100 flexes it broke at about 80 degrees. That was one tough blade! I still have her and now use her for a leather cutting knife after some serious profileing.
 
Thanks Ed, that's just what I'll do.

I've been very interested in Richtig since I read an article about him in one of the old knife books. Unfortunately there seems to be very little information available about him or his knives. My memory places him around WWII, is that right? You are very fortunate to have some of his work to play with!
 
As far as I can remember he died sometime inthe 60's, Harlan Seudemier has a lot of information on Richtig, and an extensive collection of his knives. Harlan also rebiulds and sells complete hammers and parts for Little Giant power hammers. He is an exceptionally honest good guy.
 
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