Plate quench dagger

Would you recommend that he does not grind one bevel all at once? I know my AEB-L likes to warp with grinding pre HT. Might he want to nibble a bit at a time on all 4 bevels?
 
Another thing worth pointing out. I go back and forth (over all sides on daggers) regardless of what I'm grinding. But it's particularly important on aeb-L, and yet another reason I don't really like it.
I've had heat treated chef's knives warp in grinding if I don't spread it out between sides enough.

In daggers in particular I find that helps with symmetry and keeping things even. I normally eyeball it, but scribing lines as witness marks to grind an even amount on each side might be helpful too
 
I like the price and features of AEB-L but man do I HATE heat treating it. I dont know why it's so Squirrelly in heat treat but it sucks. So much so that I don't use it for my blades.
 
JTknives said:
I like the price and features of AEB-L but man do I HATE heat treating it. I dont know why it's so Squirrelly in heat treat but it sucks. So much so that I don't use it for my blades.
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yeah, It's the only stainless I have used, and I do a lot of kitchen knives. I should probably try some other stainless, but it needs to have the following features:
1. available
2. not crazy expensive
3. not require LN (DI bath- is ok)
4. Not sure about the rest of it quite honestly. Good edge retention and ability to take a fine edge I suppose. Just like how I find only accurate guns interesting, I find only sharp knives interesting. As far as the edge retention, sharpenability, toughness, hardness spectrum goes, I guess you could say I don't know what I don't know. As always, I'm open to suggestions. It would be nice to find something less likely to warp, but still rust resistant for filet knives. keeping those things straight throughout the whole process can be like chasing ghosts.
 
The only aeb-L you see me using is leftovers from the pile of it I bought when I started making kitchen knives. I HATE the stuff. Sucks to surface grind, miserably warpy stuff to heat treat (I've even had straight blades without any bevels warp in cryo) and sucks to grind. Sure its easy on belts and polishes well, but it moves around all the time.
When I'm out of aeb-L I'll use 440c for things like steak knives and oyster knives were performance isn't really a consideration, and stay with my favorite 154cm or cpm154 for everything else. I can't comment on dry ice for 154cm though as I use nitrogen.
But in every way except cutting on a bandsaw I find it nicer to work with than aeb-L
 
Interesting, I don't find it any harder to prevent warp than 15n20 or 1095????? Maybe I'm just used to thin stock????
 
It could be I'm used to A2 and cpm154, so anything else seems like a pain to HT. Its the surface grinding that annoys me the most about it. Everything else I can live with
 
I've only really had issues with filet knives during grinding. I had issues before with most kitchen knives, until i started clamping my blanks to a flat plate during sub-zero quench. Now the only ones I have any real problem with are thin filet knives, and only if I don't swap sides grinding enough. Of course, I have never used any other stainless, nor any other non-stainless less then 1/8" thick, and even then, not large knives.
 
I find 15n20 to be super simple to heat treat and even easier to straighten. Clamp it straight and temper. The AEB-L I have heat treated was super resistant to straightening and required a hell of a counter bend whil tempering.
 
yes, fixing it after it's bent is not something I like doing. Avoiding it in the first place is the way to go.
 
Here is where I'm at. This is going to be a gift that my brother (and best knife salesman anywhere) is giving to the local police chief. (he said he owed the chief a big favor, I can't wait to get the whole story...). Since it's a suprise, i can't confer with the end user. what I get from my brother is "a slim, fixed blade stiletto/ dagger" to be worn small of back, horizontal. This is what I have so far. I'm going to taper the tang to save weight (stock is 3/16") and the pommel will be exposed and sharpened to a point. I am starting as more of a spade type profile. I'm thinking of hollow grinding it, so it will cut as well as stab well. double edged, with a bit of a flat tapering from the ricasso to tip. Thoughts?

IMG_20170829_204735896.jpg IMG_20170829_213937739.jpg
 
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