When do i sharpen ?

A

adambomber

Joined
Feb 24, 2009
Messages
28
do i sharpen before i harden and or temper ?

should the blade be basically in a finished state before hardening?

i looked this up but nothing really specifies.
 
First off Welcome to BF!

Well since sharpening is the 2nd to last step (last one being buffing/polishing if your going to do it) I would have to say heat treat (HT)first...I have seen just a basic knife black and also very rough grinded pieces go to get HT..the only reason the rough ones were pre-grinded was because it was thicker steel.
 
You want to leave your edge erea about as thick as a dime for heat treat, otherwise you run the risk of edge cracking . Also you are going to get decarb during heat treat. Since decarb is a diffusion process that works from the surface in you want to leave a little sacrifcial thickness at your edge

-Page
 
What Page said as far as thickness before HT goes.

I will respectfully disagree with Nate on the "2nd to last" part. Sharpening is the VERY last step I take, because a knife becomes extremely dangerous to work on once it is sharp. Do everything, and I mean EVERYTHING you intend to do to finish a knife out before you sharpen. This includes taking pictures and making sheaths. In the construction of knives we hold on to them in every possible way, except how you're supposed to. If there is a chance for a blade to bite you, eventually it will, and if you're even halfway decent at putting an edge on a blade, those cuts can very easily be to the bone, sever tendons and ligaments, etc. Better to play it safe IMHO.

-d
 
I agree with Decker, except I do sharpen prior to taking pics.

Don't try to make a leather sheath with a sharp blade. I know folks do it all the time, but each time I try, I get a bite from the blade.

Be careful.

Robert
 
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