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Heat Treating and Metallurgy Discussion of heat treatment and metallurgy in knife making. |
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#1
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Starting out
Hey there. I'm just starting out with REALLY making knives. Getting a grinder real soon as apposed to constructing them from kits which I've made a few. I don't want to get into heat treating and hardening right now. Just trying to learn what I need to learn to get a half way decent blade. Where do people send knives for this service?
Michael __________________ Michael What.... just take some metal, grind away anything that does not look like a knife and there you are. Whats the problem now? |
#2
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Michael...Glad to have you on board.
I have to admit to never having assembled a kit knife. However, to me, it's sort of like putting a puzzle together, and then claiming that you had painted the picture yourself. To me, the important thing about knifemaking is the creativity, and in making something that is truely yours...from start to finish. It is for this reason that I would encourage you to attempt your own hardening and heat treating yourself. If you restrict your efforts to working with the simple 1080 type steels, the hardening/tempering, AKA heat treating, is something that is easy, rewarding, and requires no special equipment to do. There are plenty of "instructions" on this forum as to how to do it, so I'm not even going there for now, but you really should give it a try. The self confidence that comes from heat treating your own blade is hard to get any other way, and what you will learn during the process is absolutely invaluable. I'm not saying that there won't be setbacks, but this is something you can do for yourself. You don't even have to make a knife! Just take a piece of simple carbon steel, heat it up, quench it, and put it in a toaster oven for an hour. Test it with a file. Do this a few times until you feel confident about the process, and then make a knife. You'll be glad you did it!! |
#3
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Thanks much!
__________________ Michael What.... just take some metal, grind away anything that does not look like a knife and there you are. Whats the problem now? |
#4
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michael, welcome.
What Ed said has a lot of truth to it. I have not done a kit knife either and there is nothing wrong with making a kit knife, but if you want to make your own knives you can do the shaping with files and sanding and use a basic carbon steel 1075 or 1080and you can do your own heat treating with some basic tools and equipt. I'm still a rookie with only 6 knives under my belt, but i designed and built each one from start to finish. When you finish a knife and use it or have someone admire your work it is very rewarding. Just practice and patients, I'm still doing most of my work by hand except for a little grinder and dremel tool. |
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blade, files, kit, kits, knife, knives |
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