Pits in the final finishing stage

[chuckj6]

The last piece of 440-c stainless that I purchased from Admiral Steel has had disasterous results in the final finishing stages. The present blade has been worked using micron 9m and buffed to a mirror polish. I have worked thru many pits I cannot continue I will never get it out without destroying completely the grind lines.

I am looking for advice as what I can do to save the work already put into this knife. I have tried hand sanding but this just seems to put scratches into the metal. I am really just looking to do something that will blend the remaining puts into the final finish. Any ideas? Thanks.

[mike koller]

If a satin finish is an option maybe you could bead blast it.

[Mike Hull]

Or give it a lengthwise handrubbed satin finish. They're supposed to have scratches. A 600-800 grit finish looks pretty good, IMO.
I've been hearing of more and more people who are having trouble with steel obtained from Admiral. Wonder what the major malfunction is?:confused:

[Brett Bennett]

I've had similar problems in the past, and hand sanding resulted in scratches that had the appearance of 60 grit scratches around the 'dirty' area. The only solution I could find was to bead blast or etch the blades. Unfortunately, I don't make/sells these types of knives. I stopped buying steel that came from Admiral and suppliers that keep their supplier a secret.

[whv]

bite the bullet and send the sh-t steel back to admiral. they do such volume that you cannot trust what you get from them - and in their defence, they cannot test each piece that goes out the door. try it, if you don't like it - send it back and cut your losses. we have discussed this in prior threads, and the universal opinion is that they will make good.
.
call first.

[chuckj6]

Thanks for the input guys I knew that I could find some answers in this forum. I have been very impressed with the subject matter and the willingingness of others to respond to problems that us new guys have. What places do you all use to buy your steel from? Thanks for the advice and I will try it out.

[whv]

just getting into the making thing myself, chuck (ran out of money collecting). so far, i have ordered steel from the places i buy other materials: texas knifemakers supply, kovals, etc.
when i'm geared up to go, i will be using a local outfit often cited by wayne goddard (sorry i can't remember the name right now, but find it in one of his blade magazine articles)

[Dan Graves]

Chuck,

I got a order of 440c from Admiral steel and after heat treating went to mirror polish the blade and had areas that had orange peel look to them. Ended up sanding them to 400 as when I went higher the peel started to show. This has happened 2 times with the same batch of steel. I got this steel three weeks ago. Maybe we got the same batch of steel.

[chuckj6]

It seems that a lot of folks have had trouble with admiral steel. I suppose this stick is probably over a year old. I think we need to shop around. Maybe some good suppliers will come out of this post. Admiral steel seems to like 400 perhaps to get buy the solution would be to hand sand to 800 or so. Thanks for the reply. I am not the only one with problems with Admiral.

[Mike Hull]

Originally posted by chuckj6
It seems that a lot of folks have had trouble with admiral steel. I suppose this stick is probably over a year old. I think we need to shop around. Maybe some good suppliers will come out of this post. Admiral steel seems to like 400 perhaps to get buy the solution would be to hand sand to 800 or so. Thanks for the reply. I am not the only one with problems with Admiral.

Here's a few suppliers of steel.
http://www.ckdforums.com/showthread....threadid=10229

[chuckj6]

Thanks Mike for the information. I will try them out. Chuck

[sjaqua]

What is interesting is that all of the Admiral Steel Quality threads seem to center around stainless steel alloys. It may well be a case of different mills for different alloys. I and others have had no problems with 1084 and 15N20 alloys bought from Admiral. But (there is always a but), we are doing pattern welding.

So either Admirals Carbon steel alloys don't show this sort of problem. Or we are somehow eliminating the problem in the forging process.

Hmmmmmmmmm....................

[Mike Hull]

Originally posted by sjaqua
either Admirals Carbon steel alloys don't show this sort of problem. Or we are somehow eliminating the problem in the forging process.

Hmmmmmmmmm....................

Or just covering it up in the acid etch. You don't see a lot of mirror finished damascus. Plus the process of folding, etc. would also tend to hide any cosmetic problems.

[Geno]

Most of the complaints about the S/S at Admiral are on ATS34, and some 440C.
These are high alloy steels that have been mill rolled to thickness.
I believe what we are seeing is a work hardening of the steel.
As the temperature of the steel drops during the rolling process, The alloys begin to fall out of SOLUTION, meaning that the chrome and nickel solidify in pockets and the steel forms around them. The result is hard spots of alloys that are not properly mixed anymore. It forms swirls in the finish, and HAZ around the boundries.(HAZ is heat affected zone or brittle area)The HAZ areas are where the pits form, outside the swirls.
Often pits can occure from waiting too long before H/T. Once the blade is sanded smooth, we work the rest of the knife before H/T. During that time of waiting, moisture sets up in the tiny voids of the surface and cause minor pockets of rust. We don't see them until after H/T and we start to polish the blade. They mysteriously seem to appear, yet they were growing all the time and we didn't know it.
I always sand them again just before H/T to remove the threat.

Some of the problem is bad steel, yet a lot of it can be fixed with some extra precaution.
If you see swirls after H/T, send it back, it IS the steel.
If the swirls are not present, it may be your process.
Just a friendly word about the subject, in hopes it saves some of these blades we are throwing away.

[sjaqua]

Originally posted by Mike Hull


Or just covering it up in the acid etch. You don't see a lot of mirror finished damascus. Plus the process of folding, etc. would also tend to hide any cosmetic problems.

Well you may not see a mirror finish damascus blade, but I do. Prior to etching I finish grind the steel to a 600 grit. I then buff the steel to almost mirror finish. Etching doesn't go very far towards covering up anything other then very minor finishing flaws.

But you are right, the forging process may cover up the problem. Something not available to the stock removal knife maker.