Planer blade knive summary

DantheDJ · Feb 16, 2017

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32942968125/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/

I was fitting the handle again and the tip just stayed into the piece of wood I was using as a vice.
After a bit of raging, I carefully reground the tip again, and re-tempered the blade, in fire this time, watching for the color. When the spine was left blue and the edge started shining like gold, I removed it from the coals and into a water bath, to cool it off.
After all that I was all confident that it would not fail me again, but sadly, it did.
That steel is just crazy brittle, I dont know how to fix it.
I then asked a renown knife maker from my country about it, and he told me that since its a planer blade, its high speed steel and that I need to temper it on at least 300 degs celsius in order to achieve something more knife friendly.
So Im asking for your help again, is there something I could do to make use of the ton of that steel thats now lying around wasted, or do I send it to some pro HT dude to get it right for me??

Thanks in advance!!!

P.S. Can someone tell me how to put pictures directly from my pc, or at least how to make them pop right up in the thread, without links? :S

Natlek · Feb 16, 2017

DantheDJ said:
When Stacy E. told me those blades I found were d2, I got a bit discouraged, but nevertheless, I continued to work on the knife.
Annealing was a success, beveling was very easy, though the jig was all wobbly and stuff, but I managed in the end.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32128119463/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32099298114/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32561958410/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32099297984/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32561958130/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/

Originally, it was meant to have a cord wrap, but a friend convinced me otherwise:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32099297894/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32099297794/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32099297714/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/

Here, as you can see, the glue failed. But so did the blade

https://www.flickr.com/photos/144377406@N08/32942968125/in/dateposted-public/lightbox/

I was fitting the handle again and the tip just stayed into the piece of wood I was using as a vice.
After a bit of raging, I carefully reground the tip again, and re-tempered the blade, in fire this time, watching for the color. When the spine was left blue and the edge started shining like gold, I removed it from the coals and into a water bath, to cool it off.
After all that I was all confident that it would not fail me again, but sadly, it did.
That steel is just crazy brittle, I dont know how to fix it.
I then asked a renown knife maker from my country about it, and he told me that since its a planer blade, its high speed steel and that I need to temper it on at least 300 degs celsius in order to achieve something more knife friendly.
So Im asking for your help again, is there something I could do to make use of the ton of that steel thats now lying around wasted, or do I send it to some pro HT dude to get it right for me??
Thanks in advance!!!
P.S. Can someone tell me how to put pictures directly from my pc, or at least how to make them pop right up in the thread, without links? :S

If it is HSS steel , 300 degs. celsius will do nothing.................And I don t think you can HT or anneal HSS steel easy ??

DantheDJ · Feb 16, 2017

Im telling you, it was soft as soft steel gets, after the quench in oil at non magnetic, it was beyond file hard. Its just the temper thats bugging me. Maybe I need some tempering oven, any cheap alternatives come to mind?

Natlek · Feb 16, 2017

DantheDJ said:
Im telling you, it was soft as soft steel gets, after the quench in oil at non magnetic, it was beyond file hard. Its just the temper thats bugging me. Maybe I need some tempering oven, any cheap alternatives come to mind?

Read this ..................http://www.totalmateria.com/page.aspx?ID=CheckArticle&LN=EN&site=kts&NM=57

DantheDJ · Feb 16, 2017

Well, it definitely aint some fancy steel if I can harden it in my backyard, but it doesnt act like a tool steel as well given that it is one

Frank Niro · Feb 17, 2017

Not really a difficult way to go is to grind the planer blades in the hardness they are at. Many years ago I made knives doing it that way. I did use the same soft grinding stones as were used in the shops for the saw mills but ceramic belts will do a better job .
Frank

JDknives · Feb 18, 2017

i make my knives primarily with d2, if you are having issues with brittleness after bringing it to color. you have to renormalize. your heat treat was much to aggressive, D2 is an air cool steel. heat it to critical let it cool at room temp. do this three times. then heat treat soaking the steel at critical for at least 20 minutes, and AIR cooling either by moving the blade in the air or more preferably with a compressor nozzle. after take it through 2 1-hour cycles at 500 degrees Fahrenheit letting it cool to room temp in between. hope this helps I have faced the same problem as you have and it has helped me. I might add as well there are few steels that like water baths, if you must do water make a saturated brine with ordinary table salt as a inexpensive option, just never with D2.

JDknives · Feb 18, 2017

i make my knives primarily with d2, if you are having issues with brittleness after bringing it to color, you have to renormalize. your heat treat was much to aggressive, D2 is an air cool steel. heat it to critical let it cool at room temp. do this three times. then heat treat soaking the steel at critical for at least 20 minutes, and AIR cooling either by moving the blade in the air or more preferably with a compressor nozzle. after take it through 2 1-hour cycles at 500 degrees Fahrenheit letting it cool to room temp in between. hope this helps I have faced the same problem as you have and it has helped me. I might add as well there are few steels that like water baths, if you must do water make a saturated brine with ordinary table salt as a inexpensive option, just never with D2.

DantheDJ · Feb 19, 2017

Um, we already established that those blades arent d2, given the fact that I annealed it and then hardened it in oil

JTknives · Feb 19, 2017

I looked through your last thread on this steel and did not see a description on your heat treat process just that you quenched in oil. Also how did you soften the steel, your process. You can harden D2 in oil not just air but I would like to see your proceeds you used to anneal and hard this mistery steel

DantheDJ · Feb 19, 2017

I just heated it to non magnetic and moved that hot spot along the piece, since my fire is too small for the whole length of the piece.