Wrapping Stainless Blades?

JK Knives

JK Knives

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I`m going to be starting to offer stainless blades (probably 154CM) and had a few questions on using the foil wrap.

Do the blades have to be wrapped individually, or can several be wrapped together?
Do they have to be unwrapped before plate quenching?
Can the foil be reused, or is it a one time use?

Thanks for any help.
 
I usually wrap them individually to minimize the amount of air in the sleeve, but I don't think it will do much harm to wrap a few together. I plate quench with the sleeve still on, and I only use them once. Once you see what the sleeve looks like after HT, you'll see why ;)
 
Individually.
Plate quench in the foil. Make the folds so they do not overlap the blade in any way, or you may press a groove/warp into the hot blade with the quench plates.

The foil is a razor blade before the HT and is a hardened razor blade after HT. Wear gloves and watch the back of your hands and wrists when cutting it. As said, you will understand immediately why it isn't reusable.
 
Thanks for the answers. When I worked in manufacturing, we would use foil for heat treating stamping die parts, but those were seldom flat pieces. Another question, does the 154CM have to have cryo treatment?
 
It doesn't "have" to, but I found that I got more out of the steel when I do cryo, so its part of my HT process for the steels that benefit from it.
 
JK Knives said:
I`m going to be starting to offer stainless blades (probably 154CM) and had a few questions on using the foil wrap.

Do the blades have to be wrapped individually, or can several be wrapped together?
Do they have to be unwrapped before plate quenching?
Can the foil be reused, or is it a one time use?

Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...

You can stack knives on top of each other (spine to edge not the flats) if they are thick and only do a few per packet... this can also lead to a huge headache if they shift out of place in the packet though. I only do two on occasion and that is with thick unground knives only.

I unwrap after a few seconds of quench but you don't have to. I feel by cutting the packet open once the quench nose has passed but while they can still be straightened really helps out. It's dangerous!

I wouldn't re-use the foil just to stay on the safe side.





JK Knives said:
Thanks for the answers. When I worked in manufacturing, we would use foil for heat treating stamping die parts, but those were seldom flat pieces. Another question, does the 154CM have to have cryo treatment?
Click to expand...

I'd do a sub-zero treatment with dry ice/alcohol, I feel it really helps a lot with conversion on this steel. I don't even snap temper anymore, I water cool once they are cool in the hand and go straight to the slurry mix.
 
I keep all my old packets and re-use them as the 'first layer' on subsequent blades.
Since they're already relatively oxidized the blade wont stick to them and it makes it a lot more difficult for air to get in if it has to get around all those corners
 
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