Plate quenching CPM154 with a tapered tang

silver_pilate

silver_pilate

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Oct 30, 2002
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I've searched and found a few older and disagreeing threads, but I was wondering what the current consensus is on this.

I re-profiled a blade today from one I had accidentally fumbled onto its tip (prior to heat treat). I ground it down into a smaller EDC today, and while I was at it, I thought I'd try my first tapered tang. That went well and fast thanks to the Blaze belts I was using. However, now I'm starting to think about my heat treatment.

The blade is CPM154. It's fairly small (OAL of around 7") and was ground from 5/32 stock. Again, the tang is tapered, and there is a distal taper to the blade as well (though not as obvious as usual on this blade). I usually plate quench in foil between 1" aluminum. Is this still feasible with the tapered tang? Would a fan blowing air over and between the plates help at all?

So the primary question is will plate quenching still let me achieve what I need to from the heat treatment? Is there another option that would be more ideal? I'm also going to be doing a cryo in LN for the first time on this one (thanks to JM for the great deal on a dewar).

What do you think?

--nathan
 
Tapered tang makes no more difference than distal taper - and that is almost nothing. Stainless blades have been cooled in still air for decades and even the smallest contact plate quench is faster than that. The LN completes the advantage.

I think I posted about this a while back but here it is again

I took a piece of steel (154CM I think) and ground three 'plateaus' into it. Only the thickest portion would contact the plates and the other 2 plateaus were about 1 1/2" out each. I hardened normally, plate quenched and then into the liquid nitro. All three plateaus rockwelled the same within my ability to measure them (test blocks +/- .5 RHC)

Your quench plates may 'rock' toward the blade taper or the tang taper, but I don't think it will make any difference in the end.

Interested in what others have experienced.

Rob!
 
worry about gettign the blade hard and let the tang air cool
you ll get lets say 62-63 as quenched on the blade and maybe 60-61 on the tang till you temper the blade back to something not kitchen knife hardness the tang will be in great shape
keeping things flat all the way maybe more a problem
 
For what it's worth (after the fact) CPM 154 is my favorite steel and I've never wanted to try grinding after heat treat. Another knifemaker talked me into it. He plate quenched my blanks and I tapered the tang and hollow ground them after heat treat. The first couple took some getting used to, now that's how I will grind all of them. Seems to be a more crisp grind.
 
Ryan,

Thanks for the info. I actually have a large ATS34 blade that I am going to try grinding after heat treatment. As it's basically the same as 154CM which is the same composition as CPM154, they should be similar experiences aside from a bit more hardness and wear resistance in grinding the CPM blade.

I'll likely be following suit with my stainless blades and hardening prior to beveling.

--nathan
 
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