Precision Ground or not?

sulsaMatt

sulsaMatt

Joined
Jan 29, 2007
Messages
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I'm in the middle of a process write up for a 20 blade batch. I initially was going to use 1095 3/16" x 1" cut into 12" lengths.
I do my surface grinding on a
4x36 myself. In my past experience I remember hot rolled flat bar being somewhat cupped down the center.
After removing mill scale and grinding relatively flat will I be out a whole bunch of thickness? Will removing .010-.015" be enough to eliminate warpage in the HT process? Is precicion ground worth the price? Any advice would help.:confused: These are for a martial arts school and I really want a great blade, I'm outsourcing the heat treat to ensure a certain level of quality.
The contract will be between 30-50 units.
 
you will save yourself a few belts by going with the PFG steel. I'm sure it will atleast be worth that.

Jason
 
Good point. In an effort to save $$ I've been hunting out a steel supplier in AZ. So far out of 10 houses I found one that "can get" 1095. Knife maker supply houses seem pricey. Any advice on a good supplier of PFG, or would it be better to rec' my steel and outsource to a grinding house?
 
I cant find anyone either who carries PFG 1095. The closest I came was the polished and blued spring strip from Admiral but the thickest they had in it was 1/16". The only other closest item was PFG W1 from fastenal but the biggest it came in was 1/8"x3/4"x3' Outsourcing to have it PFG will cost way more than the extra belts you'll use.

I did find Coils pf Blue tempered Shim Stock 1/8" thick but it is 1075 which will still make an OUTSTANDING blade.
http://www.lyonindustries.com/catalog/blue_tempered_coils3.html#125
The only problem being it is in the hardened state so you'd ofcourse want to anneal it first. Talk to any spring shops locally and see if they can hook you up with a better alternative.

Jason
 
Thanks Jason, unfortunately you're running into the same roadblocks I was. New belts isn't sounding so bad now. 3/16" x 1" doesn't seem like a real exotic measurement...
here's the blade I'm doing. after some sound advice, I'm angling the top part of the guard and maybe extending the bottom other than that that's how she's gonna look.
 

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:eek::thumbup::D I like the look of it! Admiral Steel will have the 3/16"x1" 1095 Hot Rolled Annealed for about $15.00 per 6 ft stick call them @ 800-323-7055 to double check the price I'll bet they can get you a great deal on that size.
 
Thx Jason,
I've spoke w/ Admiral. I'm waiting on a call back from a local guy to see how close he can match. I got some good advice to buy steel within 50 miles otherwise price hunting is futile. Since I'm 100 miles from nowhere I'll make the drive during a supply run to the metropolis. Thanks for the heads up tho.
 
Matt,
if you are stuck on 1095, you might wat to check out W-1, they are very similar alloys and W-1 is easily available in PFG.
Del
 
Just grind the HR down and it'll work fine, or look into cold rolled 1095.

I've only seen surface ground 1095 once and I bought all they had, was very old stock.
 
I just got off the phone w/ my local guy, and he quoted me $9.70/ ft. :eek: That puts me around the $40 mark in materials/processes. Not to mention belts, electricity and bloody knuckles. Is this typical? I'm not married to 1095, but I thought it was good steel for the money. I don't want any lesser grade, and I'm really starting to doubt that I can go up in grade.
Don Hanson III said:
Just grind the HR down and it'll work fine, or look into cold rolled 1095.

I've only seen surface ground 1095 once and I bought all they had, was very old stock.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I can't remember the negatives I heard about cold rolled, but I remember that I wanted to stay away. What the hell tho, it seems like making knives is a lot like curing the hiccups. Hence, the sending out for HT. I like designing and grinding them down. I like forging and HT too but when it comes to combat/survival, I don't want to leave anything to chance. IMO these types of knives, built by a team of experts, are better than ones built by one Jack-of-all-trades. Whitout causing a major $h!t storm, To all you master bladesmiths, you guys are dialed in. I on the other hand am not... so I outsource.
 
Just hung up the phone w/ Admiral. 3.85/ft delivered! Yay!
Jason you were right on. $$ wise.
Hot rolled it is.
 
Oh cool, I don't think I've called them yet. Name sounds real familiar tho. I'll jack 'em up tomorrow. What, in particular, makes W-1 better than 1095? To my understanding, they are very similar. There are a couple of things I want in this design; specifically a good toughness to hardness ratio (I think that's what we all want;)) Are any carbon steels more corrosion resistant than others? I can't afford to do this trial batch w/ an expensive stainless. Currently, I use turtle wax to coat the blade and provide limited protection.
 
D2 is almost stainless, w/ 12% chrome. another decent one would be A2 w/ 5% Chrome something you may look into is High Carbon Chrome-Moly. Alot of high end kitchen knives are made from it. What they call High Carbon-Stain Free. Any of these will be alot more expensive though.

Jason
 
Thanks Jason, I didn't know any of this. I'll definitely keep this in mind when I have a lower mortality rate at the grinder:)
 
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