The closest I've come to being able to "finish" before heat treat is if I use a salt tank for heat treat. Using a salt tank as the heat source, the blade comes out with a film of molten "salt" all over it, so there very little oxidation compared to any other heating source. It still requires hand finishing, but it's considerably less then required with any other method.
That being said, if a person doesn't have/use a salt tank for heat treating, it's really a waste of your time and effort to finish a blade prior to heat treat....because you're just going to have to do it again. Other factors also come into play..... particularly warping issues, due to the majorly different thicknesses in a blade.
Last edited by Ed Caffrey; 10-03-2017 at 08:54 AM.
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