Working Dendritic Cobalt

[R A Wilson]

I need some help...
I had a customer that wants me to grind a blade from a piece of dentritic cobalt. Everything I have found indicates that knives are cast to shape. Can this be ground to shape, and will over heating it jeopardize the hardness of it?

 

[Chuck Gedraitis Knives]

A while back I saw that David Boyde was selling bars of colablt dendretic steel for knifemakers. It is similar to talonite so it does not need heat treatment. You can also buy the blades from a few of the knife supply houses and they sell them annealed or hardned.

 

[Brian V Russell]

Just finished grinding my first Dendritic Cobalt blade, didn't seem too much tougher than the average blade steel. I was using fresh ceramic belts and the material flew right off. DRILLING, on the other hand is a royal pain in the butt, must have taken 15 or 20 minutes per hole.

Overall I actually enjoyed working with it, probably gonna get some more when I get a chance.

Brian V Russell