Stanilees Steel Knife In House Fire, And How To Heat Treat

R

Robert Parsons

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Jan 19, 2009
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I am on the Bushcraft forum, and a guy on there lost his house, and everything in it in a house fire from one of the many fires in Texas..

He did salvage a couple of knives, one being an Schrade Old Timer Deer Slayer that his brother gave him before he died.

The deer Slayer is made of Stainless Steel.

What methods are needed to repair the knife as far as heat treating?

Thanks for any help.

Robert
 
What shape is it in now ? If the handle has been burned off it has to be reheat treated .Stainless steel of what type ? Even with a reasonable quess there are special HT methods such as putting it in protective foil.You'd have to find someone in the Knifemakers section to do it for you.
 
I think you may want to post this in the knife making forum, they know a lot about the heat-treat process over there. I think with the knife being in the fire without tempering, the blade should have been annealed (if that is the proper term for softening it). It should just be a process of firing the blade and cooling it, but he *should* send it to a professional.
 
This might be a great question to ask Brad Stallsmith at Peter's Heat treating in Meadville PA.
 
Test the blade to see if it lost its temper. It shouldn't be warped and a file should skate across the bevel without catching. If the blade is warped or the file doesn't have any difficulty cutting the blade it will require a new heat treatment. The simplest and perhaps the cheapest is to find and purchase a new Deer Slayer. Retire the old blade as a keepsake.

If the blade is warped it needs to be straightened. Before heat treat the edge needs to be ground down. Seems like most steels require a unique heat treat protocol to get the best from the blade. So, you need to identify the steel used in the knife. Then find the protocol for treating the blade. Some steels need a pretty elaborate process requiring a programmable oven so sending it out for the heat treatment might be the best bet. After you get the blade back you can profile and sharpen it and put new scales on it.

If you decide to heat treat the blade there is a lot of information in the blade makers forum.
 
I had a house fire 2 years ago and it burned to the ground. Of the knives that were not in my big gunsafe even though the sheaths melted or burned away it didn't get hot enough to ruin the heat treat, so check the blade as suggested above, it may just be cosmetic damage.

take it easy
cricket
 
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