Why can't H1 be flat ground?

B

bitter1

Joined
Mar 3, 2008
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I remember hearing this some where and just do not know what it can not be flat ground. Not that it bothers me but I am just curious as to why.
 
It can be, but not on a commercial production scale. H-1 is not conventionally heat-treated. It is hardened by working it. It is cold rolled to a specific thickness and hardness, then cut into blanks. Grinding will further harden the steel. Flat grinding commercially is done one side at a time, so when the time comes to grind the other side, it is a lot harder than doing the first side. This leads to excessive tool wear and can lead to overheating of the steel. Hollow grinding is done on both side of the blade at the same time, so the work hardening will be even and so will the tool wear.

H-1 can be flat ground by alternating sides and cooling frequently, but that is too labor intensive to be cost effective for mass production.
 
Ok thank you very much for this information and it's not that it can't be done it is that it is just not efficient to do so.
 
yablanowitz said:
It can be, but not on a commercial production scale. H-1 is not conventionally heat-treated. It is hardened by working it. It is cold rolled to a specific thickness and hardness, then cut into blanks. Grinding will further harden the steel. Flat grinding commercially is done one side at a time, so when the time comes to grind the other side, it is a lot harder than doing the first side. This leads to excessive tool wear and can lead to overheating of the steel. Hollow grinding is done on both side of the blade at the same time, so the work hardening will be even and so will the tool wear.

H-1 can be flat ground by alternating sides and cooling frequently, but that is too labor intensive to be cost effective for mass production.
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IIRC, the problem was warping when ground on one side ... not necessarily excessive wear due to hardening.
 
It could be. It's been a while since I read Sal's explanation on the subject.
 
No I do not own any H1 knives as of yet and I am fine with their hollow ground and Tom would be a great option if I did want H1 flat ground.
 
forcedestrike said:
Its not commercially viable on a mass scale, just send your H1 knives to Tom Krein if you want a regrind!
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Only because a manufacturer would need to alternate between sides constantly. Other steels can be flat ground commercially. It's a typical H1 issue AFAIK.
 
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