Stainless/ 01 question

S

Sammy Mickel

Joined
May 11, 1999
Messages
61
Hey guys, I think I already know this answer but need to check anyway. I have a friend that has seen a knife he would like me to make for him. I like using 01 because being a beginer it's easy to work with and I can heat treat it myself at home. But it was requested to be made of stainless. Is there a stainless that can be heat treated at home, a torch and oven, sucessfully. Thanks for any help.

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Sammy, all the stainless steels perform better with a professional heat treat but I believe 440C can be satisfactorily home heat treated with an oil quench. Search the forum and the archives for more information. I'm in the same boat as you so hopefully we'll get some more replies to this.-Guy Thomas
 
The only way you can "home" heat treat stainless is if you have the capabilities to hold a specific temp somewhere in the nebour hood of 1850 to 2100 F for a specified ammount of time depending on the critical temp of the steel being used.
This should not be done with a forge or any type of open flame heat applied directly to the blade.

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Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html
 
There are experienced knifemakers that see things a little different than Robert. Take a lot into Karl Schroens book about forging knives from tool and stainless steels.

Personally i have forged and hardened 440B, 440C, stainless Damasteel, D2 and M2 with very satisfying results in a normal coal forge using either coke or charcoal. If you are ready to pickle off the hard scale of stainless steel with vinegar and grind maybe a bit more than on a blade hardened by a specialist, i see no major problem in doing it at home.

Achim
 
As you stated you are a beginer at knifemaking, probably with not to much forging experiance.
So I stand by my original advice of don't do it!!! Unless you don't mind your 1/8 blade ending up at 3/32 OR less.
I have forged 440C and D2(many other things I would rather do) but have ALWAYS gone to the salt pots for heat treating because of the acuracy and consistancy they offer.
Sammy you mentioned an oven is it a proper heat treating oven or a kitchen oven?

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Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html

[This message has been edited by R Dockrell (edited 08-03-2000).]
 
Well since you asked, it's a kitchen oven in which I have successfully drawn o1 before. Regretfully it seems it will take a while to get the equipment I desire. In the mean time I eagerly look for Wayne Goddards articles and ideas in Blade magazine. I appreciate the opinions and advice. I live in Lexington, NC do you know of anyone in central NC that heat treats knives for people at a good price?

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I would suggest that if you dont want to send it off to check around your local area to see if one of the machine shops has a heat treat oven,go and ask and they might be willing to do the job for you.or find another maker close and ask if they might do the job for you,most makers dont mind helping out in a pinch like this.I also agree that since you are new at Knifemaking,let someone with experience in stainless show you the ropes,unless you just want to waste some steel and experiment before you do the blade...Just my 2 cents worth......Bruce

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Bruce Evans Handcrafted Knives
The soul of the Knife begins in the Fire!!!!!
Member of,AKTI#A000223 and The American Bladesmith Society
 
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