Run one more temper cycle 1055 knife?

D

DriftingLobo

Joined
Dec 26, 2020
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Hi
I am new here, I may had posted this question in the wrong section?

I have a factory made knife made from 4mm 1055 steel. I would like to ensure that the factory temper as good as it can be, the knife as tough and shock resistent as possible, and edge retention is not important.
I had read a lot, but still not sure on what is the right conclusion?
if I run one more temper cycle of 400F at 1 or 2 hrs (or any other temp and time suggested) than let it air cool it, would that make it:
a, completly ruin the heat treatement?
b, do nothing at all?
c, achive my goal, ensure that the knife as tough and shock resistent as possible can?
d, will do something else.?

I am awere that this question may have come up in the past, I just cannot find a certain answer for it.
All comments are appreciated.
 
B - it won't help. An additional temper at this point probably is too late to make any improvements anyway.

1055 steel isn't normally used as a blade steel;. What brand knife is it?
1055 will be near Rc59-60 at a 400°F temper. If it is a factory knife, this is what it was likely tempered at by te manufacturer.
If you wanted to drop it to around Rc57-58 you would have to temper at 500°F. However, I doubt it would do anything to improve the blade.
 
It is a Cold Steel GI tanto, these have a good reputation for being tough one, but I had read that some of latetly the QC on them may not be as it used to be. again edge retention is not what I am looking for just to ensure the best shock resistance.
So a 500F temper at ?? hrs once or twice? may or may not make it tough er? but it won't do any harm?
Thanks in advance!
 
You can do what you want with it, but I doubt you will gain anything and you will probably ruin the black finish.

The quality issues are more about the material used and the companies that makes the knife. Re-tempering won't change any of that. Cold Steel does not make knives, they only design them.
 
If you have information to suggest that CS only does 1 temper cycle, then another temper cycle may help to ensure the knife is durable. Otherwise there is no point in tempering it again.
 
Absolutely no reason to do so.

I have one I've been throwing hard for 15+ years. I can't imagine anything that you would be able to do to improve the toughness on that knife.

I've thrown it against concrete, frozen fat wood/sap wood so hard it would bounce off without even marking the wood. One piece I split with a maul and it took 20+ strikes in the same place to crease it.


Just use it and enjoy it. No reason to fiddle with the temper.
 
Hi, thank you for all your comments, I will listen for the advice and leave it for now, and if it breaks, I ll revisit the issue.
 
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