Questions for a newb's first attempt and first post

S

Skeaterbait

Joined
Dec 17, 2014
Messages
44
Hello all,

I have been searching through and perhaps just didn't go back far enough but I don't seem to find the information I need at this stage of my first build. I am working with 1095 (yep, I was uneducated when I bought the steel) and copying a knife from a Dave C's line up. I am doing a Scandi grind and have it down to about 1/8", give or take, on the edge on a 3/16" piece. My question is, how far do I want to take this down before heat treat and temper? It seems that if I leave too much it would take a great number of hours to finish the grind with a stone after temper??


knifeblank_zps94a2c451.jpg
 
I don't think its quite as critical with the scandi grind because you still have a lot of meat there to help with warping and such. I would think the heat treat process would dictate that to some extent. If you are heat treating in a forge you have to be careful not to overheat the edge trying to get the rest up to temp. I heat treat in a kiln and bring my temps up very slowly. I have experimented with the edge and found a .020 edge on a flat grind to be about my sweet spot. If you are using a forge you may want more to keep from burning the steel. I always try to get my D2 down as far as possible because after heat treat its a real bear on abrasives.
 
Do you not have a grinder?

If it's file and sandpaper/stone the whole way then yes, every but you leave on for heat treat is going to cost you.

in any event you can take the edge down to 1/32 or so. Some makers (perhaps those with very positive control on the heat treat) take it to 20 thousandths.
 
For this knife, with that grind, if you are going to have the HT done by a pro such as Peters, I recommend you take it all the way down to about .005" or less. I seriously doubt you will have any issues and you will be glad you don't have to take all that steel off after HT.

Bob
 
I am not opposed to having it treated professionally but it will all depend on cost. I am on a tight budget so this has all been done with a file.

Thanks for the info, both of you.
 
Skeaterbait said:
Hello all,

I have been searching through and perhaps just didn't go back far enough but I don't seem to find the information I need at this stage of my first build. I am working with 1095 (yep, I was uneducated when I bought the steel) and copying a knife from a Dave C's line up. I am doing a Scandi grind and have it down to about 1/8", give or take, on the edge on a 3/16" piece. My question is, how far do I want to take this down before heat treat and temper? It seems that if I leave too much it would take a great number of hours to finish the grind with a stone after temper??


knifeblank_zps94a2c451.jpg
Click to expand...

Wow, talk about perfect timing. I am about to get started on my first knife. It will be kind of a flat grind, all stock removal with files, out of some O1 steel I got as a Christmas gift.

I was just asking myself this morning - How thin do I file the edge?
 
RangerBobTX said:
My reply was specific to the knife shown. Type of grind, thickness of material, heat treating service and other factors all need to be considered.

Bob
Click to expand...

Ah, I see...that makes sense. Personally, I will be working with 5/32" O1, and the blade will be close to 1 1/2" tall from edge to spine. After doing some more reading, I believe the grind I'm thinking of is actually called a Saber (flat grind about half the blade height).
 
Usually with carbon steels the minimum recommended edge thickness pre heat treat is .020". Stainless can be taken down closer to .010" or even less. I know Peter's heat treating has their act together, and Brad was able to heat treat some AEBL and CPM M4 for me that were under .010". Of course, the more "meat" that an apex has right behind it, the thinner you can go. As in scandi grinds like yours. I am super cautious about going any below .015" with carbon steels...regardless of grind style. But that's just me!
 
I took a look at the Peter's site, I like that they have a dedicated section for cutlery, adds a little more faith to the word of mouth recommendations. I notice that most sites don't list a cost for the service, which I can sort of understand, does anyone know what kind of cost I would be looking at to have this done? Even a ballpark figure is fine.
 
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