Questions About Straightening Annealed 52100 Stock

Ares1307

Ares1307

Joined
Jun 14, 2012
Messages
545
I just received a four foot piece of annealed 52100 that is bowed in the middle. This is the first time I have purchased blade steel, and will be use to make my first few knives. I am using simple hand tools (hacksaw, files, sandpaper) to make these knives by stock removal ONLY and will be sending them out for HT. I already talked to the HT company and they will be normalizing the blades before HT to prevent warpage. This steel is very soft, so I was going to just try and correct the bend by hand. I just wanted to ask and make sure that there won't be any unforeseen consequences for doing this. If I bend this steel straight, will it stay straight during and after HT? Will it damage the steel at all? Is there a better way to bend this steel than by hand (without using a vise or any tools)?
 
Just brace the high spot on something solid and push. Straighten while soft, do the work you want to it, and send to HT. It could still move around in heat treat, but that is what a good heat treater is for; they will straighten it before sending it back.
 
When I receive a bowed bar, I normally cut out my knife blanks and then straighten them. Of course, I've never received one that was seriously bowed. The most I've had one bowed over a 48" section is probably around 1/4" if it was that.
 
The steel I have is 48" x 1.5" x .125", but the width kind of varies (at one end the width is 1 7/16" and in the middle its 1 1/2" and at the other end its around 1 5/8"). The bow is noticeable, but not horrible. I tried to straighten it out by hand yesterday and got it fairly straight. The steel is very soft and easy to work with. Thanks for your help guys.
 
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