Practice run with a 316 stainless steel, worth heat treating?

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kaizo

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Oct 17, 2014
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Hi everyone :)

I've bought some 316 stainless to be used as bolsters in future but since I bought plenty of it I'm using it to practice getting the right profile, grind etc... for my first knife before moving onto a more common steel to make blades out of.

The question is after I finish doing the practice run should I bother heat treating it so that I can give them away to friends as a present? I'm outsourcing the heat treatment so it costs money and I was wondering if 316 would be an acceptable knife steel. Doesn't have to be the best just good enough for close friends to casually use. If not I'll just keep it into my scrap basket.

Please let me know.

Thanks for your help! :)
 
That is the class of steels that are austenitic at ambient temperature. No way to harden them unless work hardening
 
Thanks everyone its definitely going into the scrap metal pile after practice now. :)
 
kaizo said:
Thanks everyone its definitely going into the scrap metal pile after practice now. :)
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Before tossing it away as scrap why not tweak it and use as a template in the future.
 
better yet, save the stainless for other purposes later, and order some real steel too. Steel is one of the smallest expenses of a blade, and if you're spending the time, why not at least have the potential of finishing a real blade? My advice is to always practice with a known material, that way you can practice the whole regimine, including heat treatment, and learn the most, while still getting final results you can use.
 
Haha I wish I thought of that before! I've used the steel already so if I don't plough on it'll go to waste. Poor planning by me. I'd better go and start feasting on my humble pie. :P

Thanks for the advice :)
 
It is very tough and britlle . I had all I wanted for free but found it a good metal to avoid all together. It is a very ante corrosive steel popular in industries that use corrosive chemicals.
Frank
 
Thanks for the info guys from the sounds of it I probably should get my hands on some D2 in that case and start over. :)
 
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