Stainless Questions

[bjr]

My father, a life-long still water paddler, has recently gotten very into whitewater kayaking. I'd like to make him an emergency blade to strap to his life vest. It needs to be stainless, as it will be in the water, so...questions:

a. Is heat treating stainless very different than heat treating D-2? It doesn't need to be perfect, because it's a small blade and wont get much use.

b. I want to put a mirror finish on it. Anything special to know? Sandpaper down to 2000 grit, alternate sanding directions, last one going tip to end of handle?

c. How hard is it to make a half serrated blade? Small round file? Cut the serrations on one side? Both sides?

d. I know kydex is water proof, but will it hold up if it spends any time acctually under the water?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[butcher_block]

A
yes its different and doing it half ass is no good send it off or hell if you close to me or want to work something out let me know i have a kiln and Ln
B
that will work and just buff it after your done sanding your brains out
C
takes time but one side and with a round file most ppl use 2 different sizes like a spyderco style
d
kydex is plastic thats about all you need to know

that should do it
Lloyd R Harner III

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Tape a round (chainsaw) file to a smooth rod the same size (tape at the ends).Use this to make your serrations. Once you have made the first file notch,put the smooth rod in that groove and file the next,etc.If making serrations with two sizes of grooves,you need two files and two smooth rods. Tape the opposite rod to the file,and switch from one set to the other.

 

[bjr]

That is a really good trick. Thanks Stacy. Other than stainless, it there any other way to go for a knife that will spend a lot of time in the water?

 

[deker]

That is a really good trick. Thanks Stacy. Other than stainless, it there any other way to go for a knife that will spend a lot of time in the water?

If sending out a blade for HT is a show-stopper, you could try one of the bake-on coatings that Brownell's sells for firearms (GunKote comes to mind). Of course, that won't coat the cutting edge, so it would still be open to rust.

Personally, I'd spend the $5-10 to get a stainless piece properly heat treated.

-d

 

[Larrin]

a. Is heat treating stainless very different than heat treating D-2? It doesn't need to be perfect, because it's a small blade and wont get much use.

Heat treating D2 is hardly any different than stainless. However, if you've been heat treating D2 with a torch then you've been doing it wrong.

 

[bjr]

No torches. I have an old charcoal grill that I bought at a yard sale. It's much heavier gauge steel than the newer webers. I use a bellows and heat the hell out of big chunks of natural hardwood charcoal. My hotter fires have warped the belly of the grill, and she regularly glows, but she's never failed me. Granted, I used to make crap-steel knives, just bar stock from home depot. I dont even know what kind of steel it was. I heat it to non-magnetic, quench it in vegtable oil, then back in the fire as it cools off. I pull it out and bury it in sand over night. I started when I was maybe 12 or 13. My dad and I got pretty good at it. We used to make throwers. I have only ever broken one tip.

 

[Rookie7]

Seems to me that if he is a whitewater kayaker, most stainless steels would be fine. I'd have a different answer in he was in a salt water environment. I'd go with Micarta due to the moist environment, or if wood, then seal it very well. Stacy's advice on serrations is sound, as is just about everything he says.