Thought I saw a thin red line of rust, then thought naw' couldent be..........

[Kentucky]

Had this puukko blank laying around for a while. Its A2..Lisa was heat treating some AEB-L so I thought Id add this A2 to the mix while we were at it..While putting the blade in the foil I saw what looked like a thin red line of rust right down the middle of the blank's spine but no were else at all..I said to myself. Self I said, that almost looks like a delam/bad spot in the steel...Then I thought, naw' couldent be...One standard A2 heat treat later(equalize @ 1450, aust @ 1775 then a sub zero to finish it off the RA) we have this monstrosity..It was taken out of the slurry and had been setting about 3 minutes waiting for it to come back to room temp for temper..Turned around and said what the #$%^$? Guess there was a thin red line :grumpy:

 

[kc custom]

Thats not really funny, but it is Hilarious!
Ken.

 

[Kentucky]

It is, was not an important piece anyway. Id give $5 for a pic of my face when it turned around and saw it..

 

[Rancho5]

Now you have two blades! When life gives you lemons....

 

[AdamFuzzyballs]

That's the best tactical blade I've ever seen! Think of the damage that'd do to a ribcage

 

[Perrin]

How/why did this happen? And why does the crack have a step in it about half way down? Now all you have to do is pull it the rest of the way apart, straighten and presto, you have two knives now!

(I know the crack was there prior to HT, I mean how does such a crack originate.)

 

[javand]

Huge cold shut in the stock is my guess.

 

[Jens Schuetz]

I'd keep it and do a chisel grind on both layers.

 

[JTknives]

Yeah put a handle on it and sell as a tactical zombie slayer.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Looks like bad steel from the mill. Sad thing is that there may be another 1000# of it out there somewhere. I would let the supplier know, ASAP.

Just a comment:
It probably isn't the source of the split, but it likely is the WHY of it splitting like that - from your HT regime given, you didn't do a snap temper before the sub-zero soak. A-2 is a fairly unstable before a temper, and the RA eliminating cold cycle should be done after a 20 minute stress relief temper at 300F.

 

[John Andrews]

Wow! Bum luck, KY! Was a good looking blade, up until it split.

 

[Kentucky]

Looks like bad steel from the mill. Sad thing is that there may be another 1000# of it out there somewhere. I would let the supplier know, ASAP.

Just a comment:
It probably isn't the source of the split, but it likely is the WHY of it splitting like that - from your HT regime given, you didn't do a snap temper before the sub-zero soak. A-2 is a fairly unstable before a temper, and the RA eliminating cold cycle should be done after a 20 minute stress relief temper at 300F.

Yea, Id actually forgot about that recommendation..Ive never fooled with much A2 at all, just a few pieces and it had been probably 5-6 years since the last piece..There was another small B & T blade in A2 that came out a little warped but fine other than a horrid orange peel look in the steel..Alloy clumping or whatever it is they call it. Just like D2 is known to do sometimes..

 

[Rick Marchand]

I had once thought about fashioning all my failed blades into wind chimes and hanging them around my shop, and house, and the neighbor's houses... and around town, on the public warf.... and...

 

[JTknives]

I hear by name it the "blade of woe"

 

[115Italian]

There's a thin red line between love and hate.

 

[JTknives]

Ahhhh I see it now. It was the tang that split. The way I saw it I thought it was the actual blade.

 

[Kentucky]

Oh its split down the blade too..All the way to the tip..

 

[Rick Marchand]

I think it looks divine...