pre heat treat prep? (blast from the past thread)

R

Remyrw

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Jun 17, 2010
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I'm finishing up my first (second really, but the first had too many mistakes to bother with ht) "from scratch" blade to get it ready for heat treating. I'll get a few more done before sending them, but want to completely finish this one first to learn as much as I can before I start messing up another piece of steel. :o

My question, after a lot of searching here, is what do folks do with the spine and tang edges? The common theme when discussing potential problems with heat treat is to avoid right angles and getting TOO thin anywhere. So do folks gently round over the spine and tang edges then grind them square again afterward? Or does the substantial thickness make it a non issue? The steel is 5/32 and the tip and edge are down to 1/16.

Also, and I should have thought of this before I drilled, what do folks do with exposed thong holes? Again, 5/32 ats34 steel, but if I countersink/taper the edge of the hole that will be visible. It's certainly a look, and I might actually go that route as a style, but am I likely to have problems if I don't? I could certainly bevel it and then just change the plan to have scales extend that far and use a tube if it's an issue.

Lastly, I've read various routines for how far people take the finish before heat treating, but little as to the reasoning. Since I'll have to refinish anyway, is there a real benefit to going beyond 220 grit belts first? Is this an issue that depends on the exact ht methods and steel used and other variables?

My apologies if all these questions are covered in a tutorial I missed somewhere, I did run into a few that my anti-virus screamed about and several dead links, so it's possible the info I need was there or I just missed it in my reading.

Remy
 
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The edges around the tang and blade can be square no problem,on the thong hole at least touch a countersink to it,doesn't have to be much. Countersink all pin holes and weight reducing holes in the tang.
On ats-34 and all other SS you can take the edge down to about .025 without any problem,and I do about 95% finish before H/T as it is gonna be wrapped in foil and will have very little oxidation on it after H/T.
Finishing annealed steel is a lot easier than hardened steel.
Hope this helps.
Stan
 
A lot, thank you. I figured there were differences between stainless and non stainless, but couldn't find any solid info for knife making rather than general information.

Looks like it's back to the grinder to get the edge a bit closer to finished. Then sanding block and paper time. A little hunting says I'm headed to the store too, no countersink suitable for steel. I thought I had one but either I was mistaken or I've lost it.
 
Rossi Knives said:
I need AT LEAST one beer in me.

-Nick
Click to expand...

lol

I'm actually pretty happy with how my second one is turning out. The real test will be how it looks when finished, but I learned a lot more here and while messing up the first piece of steel. Most importantly I learned my limits. This one's a chisel grind and larger. Larger gives more room to mess up, but also gave me more room to fix errors and was easier to hold. A 4x36 grinder isn't friendly to 6" long pieces plus newbie fingers.
 
you dont want any square corners on any right angles since this would be the first place for a crack to start including the tang. a rounded corner is best.
 
Although its a little big for my kiln, this shows it well. Outside corners can be as sharp and severe as you like. Inside corners are best rounded. Edges, whether blade or tang, can be nice and square.

klingon.jpg


The only caveat to the edges might be shaply anguated filework. I've never seen it happen, but it might represent a starting point for a crack.

You won't have any problems with 5/32 ATS34 anyway. It would take a pretty bad screw up to put a crack in that.

Rob!
 
If you have a good heat treater, you can take it to finish if you like. Paul Bos can do it even down to ab edge.
 
That's who I plan to use.

Thanks for all the info, folks. Very helpful.

Of course, after going out and getting the countersink and some more sandpaper I get home and start hand rubbing and darned if some of those scratches and scuffs aren't deeper than they looked. So I go looking for some courser sandpaper... yup, you guessed it, nada. I can't even feel the marks by touch, but they're in there pretty good and I'm fresh out of anything course enough to do the job. I blew through two full sheets of 220 (using 1/3 sheets on a block) hoping it'd be enough since that's the roughest I had, no such luck.

Gotta say, the wd40 while wet sanding gives a very nice satin finish. Nicer than I've gotten using other lubricants.
 
Remyrw said:
That's who I plan to use.

Thanks for all the info, folks. Very helpful.

Of course, after going out and getting the countersink and some more sandpaper I get home and start hand rubbing and darned if some of those scratches and scuffs aren't deeper than they looked. So I go looking for some courser sandpaper... yup, you guessed it, nada. I can't even feel the marks by touch, but they're in there pretty good and I'm fresh out of anything course enough to do the job. I blew through two full sheets of 220 (using 1/3 sheets on a block) hoping it'd be enough since that's the roughest I had, no such luck.

Gotta say, the wd40 while wet sanding gives a very nice satin finish. Nicer than I've gotten using other lubricants.
Click to expand...

If you ever get over to Mass. stop by the shop.:D
 
I am also about to send something out for heat treat, and this is my first profiling/beveling in about 20 years. I'm excited.

As far as the edge thickness goes, I am estimating it in terms of millimeters. I don't have a micrometer or calipers. .025" = approx. .8 mm. and I am just eyeballing it.
 
lol, I was actually just looking at the blade being discussed in this thread, it still hasn't gotten completed because I switched to 1080 and now 1084 to do my own HT. I've still got more ats34 but not enough to put together a good HT shipment so I was checking out pricing for some 154cm. If I do send that thing out it'll be the biggest blade I've done, darn near a foot long overall, about 7" blade. I'm thinking about cleaning it up to my current standards today or tomorrow then working with the rest of the ats34 I've got.

I hit a milestone with my most recent knife. My first "large" double bevel blade that I was happy with. No problems with being off center, odd plunge lines, unequal bevels.... I made some changes to the grinder and paid extra careful attention to the fundamentals but without over thinking it and darned if it didn't work out well. Even better, it's a buddy that's buying it, since he basically gave me free reign on the details and time frame I didn't worry about screwing up and I think that helped. I'll post pictures later, haven't taken any yet and still need to make the sheath.
 
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