When do you heat treat?

A

axeldoomeyer

Joined
Dec 31, 2005
Messages
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I must say that I have a new found respect for full time Knife makers. I started my first knife blade several weeks back. I am using ATS-34 and I marked out my grind lines with a scribe. I am about a 64th of an inch from copleting the file work and my arms are sore. HEHE. Pain is a wonderful thing! Any way, I plan on sending my blade out to get it HTed as I do not have the capabilities to HT it myself. However, I have a couple of questions about Hting... First, at what point do you HT the blade? Do I need to sharpen the blade before I HT it? Or get all of the filing done, HT it, and then sharpen it once I receive the blade back? Second question, I have been considering have the blade cryoginically (sp?) tempered, but is it worth it? Will the blade be that much more durable? Thanks in advance for your input.
 
No need to sharpen it -- you just need to get it thin and send it in. Of course, the thinner the edge, the more higher the possibility of it warping. On the other hand, if you leave a thicker edge, that's lots o' hardened steel to file. Ain't it grand? :D
 
Don't finish all the way, don't sharpen (!). Get the cutting edge to may be 40-50 thou, any thinner and you might have it warp after HT.

Make sure you grind to 220grit or so. Any deep scratches from lower grits
might become stress raiser and the blade will crack during/after the quench.

On the same note, make sure you don't have any 90 degree or sharp angles.

Cryo is up to you, unless you enter rope cutting contest you're not
likely to ever see noticeable difference (flame mode ON!).

Sharpen the blade at the VERY end - this is how you get to keep
all your fingers. After handle is on, buffing etc etc etc. VERY end.
 
I would get all filing done before heat treat, as the file is just going to skate across it after treated. Save sharpening for after. the thin edge can cause a stress riser in the heat treat, causing either warpage or a nasty crack. the cyro is optional. You will get appx. 1 to 1-1/2 more Rc. than non cyro at the same draw temp. If multiple draws are used, you will get all the toughness you are going to get. Some Heat Treaters do it as a matter of standard practice. (The Cyro) Paul Bos Does. Mike
 
Thanks for all of the great info. I have been thinking about sending it too Texas Knife. Any thoughts on them? Any recommendations on who to send it to? BTW, I am making this knife as my survival / camp blade and I want it to bee as tough as possible, that is why I was thinking about the cryo...
 
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