So I have been thinking about making some knives for along time. It is something I have always wanted to do. I have rehandled many knives so my handle skills far surpass my knifemaking abilities. I have read numerous books and have searched for hours online so I have a basic understanding of what is involved. Since I dont have the means or confidence yet ai was going to try some planer blades. I read where Wayne aGoddard recommended grinding the blades from the hardened state. I assume you would have to temper after grinding and then put the final edge on? How long and at what temp should I temper and would this make a serviceable knife on the go or should I just buy some steel and send it out for heat treating?
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planer blade tempering
- Thread starter KFU
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- May 4, 2009
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I believe planer blades are D-2 and the money you will spend wearing out belts and time you will spend grinding them from the hardened state just won't be worth it. To anneal they have to be brought up to critical temp in an oven. 1850 degrees let it soak for 15 mins or so and just turn the oven off and let them sit overnight( in the oven ). If you don't have an oven you will be better off buying some steel and sending out for heat treat. I would be happy to help you with the heattreat.
I've got a thread about this going already some planer blades are made from D2, but most are made of HSS-steel designed to keep its hardness at high temperatures so to temper it you will need temps in excess of 1000 F.
However planer blades are already tempered These are triple tempered T1 (18% tungsten HSS). Planer blades have to withstand thousands of impacts against hard woods. Granted they are still really hard, and not to tough, but since they are only 1/8" thick you probably wont be using these knives as real beaters. I like the Idea of a 64 Rc HSS pocket scalpel, that is really sharp and super wear resistant, Since I will not use it to baton, or pry just to cut. (not much tough use in the city.)
I'm thinking the grinding shouldn't be too bad, yes you will probably go through belts at least twice as fast, and you will have to simplify your design, but I think its worth it to avoid the hassle and expense of sending them out for heat treat, besides that I like doing all of my own work. dont let the nay Sayers drag you down. For most of them it makes much more sense to use soft steel, because many make tons of knives, and many have their own heat treating ovens, but as long as you are just making a few for personal use I think it is cheaper to do it this way. I can get three, 8"x1"x1/8" T1 planer knives for $26 that is what it would cost me to send out one knife for heat treatment, and cheaper than I could buy the same amount of HSS. And they are already cut to the size I need (they come in various lengths choose right and you wont have to cut them)
However planer blades are already tempered These are triple tempered T1 (18% tungsten HSS). Planer blades have to withstand thousands of impacts against hard woods. Granted they are still really hard, and not to tough, but since they are only 1/8" thick you probably wont be using these knives as real beaters. I like the Idea of a 64 Rc HSS pocket scalpel, that is really sharp and super wear resistant, Since I will not use it to baton, or pry just to cut. (not much tough use in the city.)
I'm thinking the grinding shouldn't be too bad, yes you will probably go through belts at least twice as fast, and you will have to simplify your design, but I think its worth it to avoid the hassle and expense of sending them out for heat treat, besides that I like doing all of my own work. dont let the nay Sayers drag you down. For most of them it makes much more sense to use soft steel, because many make tons of knives, and many have their own heat treating ovens, but as long as you are just making a few for personal use I think it is cheaper to do it this way. I can get three, 8"x1"x1/8" T1 planer knives for $26 that is what it would cost me to send out one knife for heat treatment, and cheaper than I could buy the same amount of HSS. And they are already cut to the size I need (they come in various lengths choose right and you wont have to cut them)
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I made MANY knives out of planer blades including a few folders. If you have a good belt grinder they are just as easy to gring as any good knife making steel. I only used one brand and ground them hards and avoided having to heat treat them and annelying them to start with to get them soft. I found they would hold an edge about 20% less than 440-C and 25% less than ATS-34. They were in fact a lot harder to sharpen. Commopn masomary bits will drill through the steel but the bigger the hole to drill the much hasrder it was to drill. One other thing here . They are often said to be D2. The truth is they are only a type of D2 that can be made with many variations. Also they most often have a brittleness that good knife steels when heat treated correctly do not. A common thickness is 1/8" and the cutting edge for wood is fine but pretty steep which allows them to have good backing on the edge that doesn't really cut but more peels than anything. Still they can work for you ! Frank
Thanks for the answers guys. I think that since I have a couple of planer blades I am going to give it a try, but will order some steel afterwards. Jason, i would love some help with the heat treat once I get started. I will shoot you an email soon. This forum is great!