So recently I had the chance to buy a used Ames Rockwell hardness tester for an extremely good price. Up until now I've had absolutely no way to know how hard my knives or anything else I've hardened (like dies for my blacksmith's guillotine) have been after quenching and tempering. My process was basically dunk hot piece of metal in oil and then temper until straw colored or whatever I felt like I may need to temper it back to. I still don't have much precise control over my quenching or tempering temperature since I just use a coal forge for everything, but I can test the hardness now. I looked around a bit but couldn't seem to find anything much about good general hardness levels for knives or for different steels. So I was wondering if anybody knew of any good articles, websites, previous threads, or had any personal knowledge/experience with what kind of hardness levels I should be aiming for.
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Question on Best Hardness Levels for Different Knives and Smithing Tools
- Thread starter AintIt
- Start date
DeadboxHero
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2014
- Messages
- 5,384
The site linked above is by far one of the best around for good solid info. You can spend hours reading 
Most knives these days run in the 55 to 62 Rc range, depending on design of knife and use. A camp knife for chopping might be in the 55 to 60 Rc range, while a thin slicer (kitchen, fillet, etc) might be in the 60 to 62 Rc range. Since you're working with a forge I suspect you'll mostly be concerned with carbon steels which would be looking in the 58 to 60 Rc range would be my guess.
Most knives these days run in the 55 to 62 Rc range, depending on design of knife and use. A camp knife for chopping might be in the 55 to 60 Rc range, while a thin slicer (kitchen, fillet, etc) might be in the 60 to 62 Rc range. Since you're working with a forge I suspect you'll mostly be concerned with carbon steels which would be looking in the 58 to 60 Rc range would be my guess.