I was wondering if you all harden and temper the scandi's before putting the edge on or do you start the edge and then harden and temper. Sometimes in the pictures it looks like there are blades that have gone through heat treat and have a handle on them with no edge grind yet.
It was great seeing all of those scandi handymans today by the way!!!
Thanks,
Tod
Tod,
The Scandis Have a small grind where the bevel will be put. We refer to in in the shop as the 45's because thats the rough angle we use to set the grinds on all our knives. We do this for 2 reasons, when we grind the primary bevels this 45 degree angle sets the grinds. Second reason mainly for scandis is to remove the 90 degree angle for heat treat which can lead to micro cracks during the quenching phase. It also sets the grind for the scandis post heat treat.
To answer the question of why wait until after heat treat to put the scandi grind on. Takes a little bit of explaining if you are not familiar with the knife making process.
Grinding the primary bevels when removing alot of steel fast heats up the blade fast and then it is cooled in a bucket of water. This builds up stress within the steel. This is not much to worry about pre heat treat when the streel is in its most workable state. Grinding primary bevels post heat treat can be done but is much more difficult and wears on the belt faster and builds heat faster potentially ruining your heat treat. This is why the primary bevels are ground on all knives prior heat treat except for scandis.
That being said, Since scandis only have one primary bevel it is ground essentially a zero grind with no secondary bevel like other knives the poses a problem if it were done before heat treat due to the need for thickness no less than 1/16th of an inch for the quench anything less you risk having micro cracks and an inferior edge.
Grinding the scandi post heat treat is optimal at this point the steel is at the hardness it is required to be and is easy to take to a bur on the grinder. Steady hands and a trained eye ensures that the blade is never over heated during this phase. Once the grind is completed the knive is shaving sharp and ready to use . No secondary bevel needs to be applied.
I hope I was able to convey the reasoning and process. Other makers may do it differently and their way isnt wrong, but how we do it works best for us and we achieve excellent results.
This was probably more info than you wanted or asked for Lol
Chris Linton
