Stainless Steel and Heat Treating

[arvanlaar]

Hey All,

First time posting here. I have been wanting to make a knife for a while and my wife and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary and I thought it would be nice to make her a knife that she can enjoy (traditional wedding gift is iron. I am no blacksmith so SS it is!).

I want to make her either a single or a couple different cheese knives as she loves cheese and loves good knives in the kitchen. I have done some research and have not been able to find a definitive answer to these questions and I was hoping some more experienced hands can assist with them:

1. Does stainless steel need to be heat treated for a knife that is not going to have an aggressive edge that will need to be sharpened repeatedly (ie a cheese knife)?

2. For a hunting knife or a chefs knife, I would imagine a 3/32" or 1/8" thick piece of stock would work as you want some heft and sturdiness to the knife. For a cheese knife, what sort of thickness of material should I be looking at using?

3. Are there any other concerns I should have working with SS instead of steel stock? I know heat treating can be a pain (hence question #1) but is there anything else I should watch out for?

I am planning on using 440c SS if all goes to plan.

I appreciate any and all help Thanks!