Pre-HeatTreat Checklist

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Mikechek1212

Joined
Dec 6, 2018
Messages
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**Cliff notes farther down**

First I wanted to say thanks for the many posters on here that have helped me get into knife making. I’ve spent countless hours lurking and researching processes to get into knife making. I’ve made one hunting knife using hand files and a filing jig and really enjoyed the process.

Since then, I bought a 2x42 craftsman and am working on a batch of aeb-l knives to send to heat treat. I’ve got about 30 knives roughed in ranging from chefs knives to small EDC knives. I’m going to send them all to Peters for heat treat to save on costs.

I want to make sure I have done everything I need to prior to sending to heat treat. I plan to do all of my grinding after heat treat. Besides getting the profile where I want it, what else are must-do’s prior to heat treat and what are other recommendations to have done that I might not think of? I am numbering each blade and am looking to make a checklist that I can run through for each blade before I send them off. Right now I don’t have the exact size drill bit for the pin holes... can I drill them after heat treat? All blades are aeb-l and I am planning to have them at 61-62 hrc.

Cliff notes:
Trying to come up with pre heat treat checklist...
1. What are must-do’s prior to heat treat?
2. Anything recommended, but not necessary, to do prior to heat treat that will make my life easier?
3. Can I drill holes in tangs after heat treat? (What type of bit do you recommend? Same type for pre and post heat treat drilling?)
4. Anything questions I should’ve asked that I didn’t?

Below are pics of my current batch of knives as well as the knife I have finished. Any constructive criticism is welcome.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 
Drill before HT, it can be done after, but not easily. Drill your holes oversized. It will make fitting scales much easier. With Aebl you don’t have to grind bevels pre HT, I prefer to just profile first. Good luck with the addiction:)
 
I would plan and drill all the holes now, it will be much easier.
If you read Peters' website, they prefer at least one hole drilled in the blade when they receive it.

I don't see your pics...
 
Mikechek1212 said:
Can I drill holes in tangs after heat treat? (What type of bit do you recommend? Same type for pre and post heat treat drilling?)
Click to expand...
Seeing as how this didn't get an answer yet, you can and you'll need a carbide drill bit to drill through the hardened blank
 
One thing I'll say is that grinding post-HT can be a bit of a challenge depending on your selection of belts, your grinder and such. You can actually have more control but you'll eat belts a bit faster, generate a bit more heat, etc. Most avoid pre-HT grinding a lot due to fears of warping and such, but I've never heard of a single blade coming back from Peters anything but straight even if ground to their min thickness specs.

I'd drill every hole pre-ht unless theres's some design reason you have to wait...

If you havent already, get any mill scale and such off before HT on any flats or un-ground areas...always seems 10X harder afterwards.

It sounds like you have it all down...get going!
 
Necessary:
1) Sand to at least 120 grit ( I do 400 grit). Remove all coarse scratches. They will come back to haunt you and be hard to get rid of after HT.
2) Drill all tang holes. Drill them 25% to 50% oversize. The oversize holes will accommodate distortion from HTR as well as misalignment in drill ing the scales. Trust me, you will be glad you made them oversize. If you don't drill them before HT you will have to drill the holes with expensive and easily broken carbide bits after HT.
3) Remove all sharp 90° corners/angles as much as possible. Just a touch with a piece of sandpaper is usually enough.
If you grind the beveks before HT, leave the edge about .04" thick for carbon steel and .03" for stainless.
5) Double check everything before HT ... because it is a lot harder to fix afterwards.

Good to do to make cleanup and finishing easier.
1) Grind the edge to a 45° angle before doing any beveling. This helps you keep the centerline straight in sanding and grinding the bevels.

Good for when you are ready for it:
1) Grind the profile, drill the tang holes, grind the edge to 45°, then HT the blade as a flat bar. Do the bevels and other work post-HT. This takes more skill, and is best done on a grinder with a spray coolant system.
2) On thin blades below .08", it is just as easy to grind them bevels post-HT all the time. Just profile, drill holes (or use carbide drills later on).
 
For suggestion #3 in Stacy’s post, I love Stihl flat chainsaw files for knocking edges off of steel, and for removing profiling grinding marks that can act as stress risers during heat treat. I usually only have problems with brine quenches, but it only takes a few seconds, and I get piece off mind.
 
Thanks so much for the responses, I truly appreciate the input! I’m getting antsy to get all these out to heat treat so I can try my hand grinding bevels on a belt grinder!

I can’t figure out how to add photos without linking to a third party photo sharing website.
 
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