Best bang for buck in a HT oven?

kvehikite

kvehikite

Joined
Jan 8, 2015
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Just curious what the best buy in a HT treat oven might be? Not looking for the cheapest, but I'm not against a good deal. I am willing to spend as much as $1500, but $1200 or so makes my wife less nervous. I'm interested in an oven that will treat up to 15 in. overall blade/tang. Is there a good 120v? Or is 240v that much more superior? I've looked around and see a few options. Just looking for some experinced opinions/thoughts. Thanks
 
Go with 240VAC if at all possible. Get a good controller with "ramp/soak" programming. One that stores multiple programs is very nice. 18" is the minimum depth you want. I like Paragon and Evenheat.
 
Im a big fan of the Evenheat..Worth every penny and can be had reasonably priced if you look around.
 
you will need a 18 inch oven for knives that size. to the best of my knowledge they are only made in 240V. if you decide to go with an evenheat ask whomever orders it to have the bill burke mod done on it. Via Mike Kelly. even heat will know what it means.
 
Mr. Burke, would you mind elaborating on what the mod. entails? Thanks in advance.
 
it is a small amount of additional insulation. it keep the outside from getting so hot. without it the outside of an evenheat oven will get hot enough to put a blister on you if you bump or rub against it while at austinetizing temp.
 
That was why I went with a Paragon along with them being on sale. The bad news is that I did not really think about the fact that the Evenheat ovens have a wider chamber than my Paragon, because at that time, I wasn't considering what might not fit in the oven WIDTH wise. You can now get a "double barrel" 24 inch Paragon that is 11 inches wide that is actually a tiny bit wider than the Evenheats, but mine the standard 24 long x 5.5 wide x 4.5 tall model. The other good news today is that the knife ovens from both companies do not require a 50 amp circuit for the the biggest ones which I recall was an issue with the large Evenheats back went I was looking. Paragon used the old 240 20A window unit air conditioner plug and Evenheat uses your standard 240-30A dryer or stove setup.
Bill Burke said:
it is a small amount of additional insulation. it keep the outside from getting so hot. without it the outside of an evenheat oven will get hot enough to put a blister on you if you bump or rub against it while at austinetizing temp.
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Hi Bill,

Thanks for coming up with this. Before I was a member here I spent twenty minutes on the phone with a lady at evenheat while we tried to find your name and what your mod was :D I read it some time back and remembered it while ordering, but forgot your name.

Eventually found it and I'm glad I have the extra insulation, as I've bumped it a few times at temp, I figure it also keeps more heat in at the same time.

That said, I think its an extra 20$ but well worth it. Regarding Paragon I think they make a great product but went with Evenheat because the reviews were the same and it was cheaper.
 
One of the main reason we went with the evenheat was the large chamber..Needed it for axe heads..
 
What kind of additional cost are we looking at?
Bill Burke said:
you will need a 18 inch oven for knives that size. to the best of my knowledge they are only made in 240V. if you decide to go with an evenheat ask whomever orders it to have the bill burke mod done on it. Via Mike Kelly. even heat will know what it means.
Click to expand...
 
Augus7us said:
Hi Bill,

Thanks for coming up with this. Before I was a member here I spent twenty minutes on the phone with a lady at evenheat while we tried to find your name and what your mod was :D I read it some time back and remembered it while ordering, but forgot your name.

Eventually found it and I'm glad I have the extra insulation, as I've bumped it a few times at temp, I figure it also keeps more heat in at the same time.

That said, I think its an extra 20$ but well worth it. Regarding Paragon I think they make a great product but went with Evenheat because the reviews were the same and it was cheaper.
Click to expand...

glad you were able to figure it out. there are a couple of other mods that I have discussed with them. One was a preprogrammed, editable, with a return to default, austinetizing and tempering programs for carbon and stainless steels. as far as I know the company decided it was cost prohibitive to implement, so it is still on the back burner.
 
glad someone started this one as this is my next big ticket item as well... one question since it's open. is it worth it? i can always send blades out to HT but would love the ability to do my own. My only issue is how reliable are the HT recipies for given steels on the web? I'll pay the cost but if i can't come close to the performance of a pro, i just don't have the time to expirament with 10 steels and 100 recipies to get my clients a proper knife.
 
That is both a hard question and an easy one.

Pro -
Doing the blades out to a pro, like Peters or Paul Bos, should guarantee a perfect HT every time. The blades all get hardness tested and you get a report. You not only assure the best hardening, you also free up time for making and finishing knives. Adding $5-10 per knife is minimal in the long run and if it allows you to make more knives in a given time period it pays for itself. I figure the HT cost is the lowest cost item in the knife. I bet many blades have more cost in sandpaper and belts that the HT.
Economically, sending out for HT is almost a no brainer.

Con-
Doing it your self is sometimes enjoyable, and allows specialized HT tests that the pros would not want to do. However, it rarely pays for itself, as the cost of the HT equipment, supplies, testing equipment, etc. is far more than anything but a commercial shop will make cost effective. It also takes time away from other shop tasks.
In terms of experimentation and "sole maker" issues, doing your own HT is the best option.
Economically, doing your own HT is more costly for 99% of knifemakers.

The Balance
Doing HT is fun. Most of us make knives for fun.
Buying expensive tools is fun. It is what big boys do with their money most often. Some guys buy cars, boats, guns, golf clubs, etc. Knifemakers buy grinders, ovens, and steel.
If you expendable cash is sufficient to buy a HT oven and still have the equipment you need to make good knives, buy one.
If your budget is tighter, and you still don't have all the equipment and materials you would want to make knives...buy that stuff and send out your blades for HT.


Other things-
Just like buying a grinder, buy the best and largest HT oven you think you will ever need. Just because all 20 of the blades you have made to dater were 8" long drop point hunters does not mean that the perfect oven is the 12" knifemaker model. I would suggest an 18" oven for most all people thinking of a HT oven.
Power is just about as important for an oven as it is for a grinder. Get a 220VAC oven and you will be better off.


NOTE:
If your shop doesn't have - A) 220 power; B) at least 60 amps of power; C) Sufficient gauge wiring - that should be an issue to correct before you are ready for much equipment at all.
 
"I bet many blades have more cost in sandpaper and belts that the HT.
Economically, sending out for HT is almost a no brainer."

This just pushed that $1500 back into my pocket. At least for a while.
 
kvehikite said:
"I bet many blades have more cost in sandpaper and belts that the HT.
Economically, sending out for HT is almost a no brainer."

This just pushed that $1500 back into my pocket. At least for a while.
Click to expand...

It didn't push any money at all in my pocket... but it did help to reprioritize where said money will be spent, lol. I totally agree. I still have a few other things I do feel that I "need" as well first, so I am also going to wait a while before buying my own oven.

Thanks Stacy. I sometimes get focused on things so much that I need a second (or 4th) opinion sometimes.
 
Stacy mentioned the cost per blade as done by a pro....you get the report. When you are home engineering you also need a testing program for HT which may include but not limited to the purchase of a device as a Hardness tester which can be costly. Need to know actual hardness before drawing/tempering is good information. Those dollars spent on a HT Furnace lead to more dollars for Tester...:rolleyes:
 
Wow! This is a very good thread. A lot of good input and thought provoking issues surrounding HT ovens. I was in the market for an oven, but after Stacy's comments, I think I'll just hold back for awhile. Thanks for the good words everyone, much appreciated.... and I did not even start this thread :D
 
Bill Burke said:
you will need a 18 inch oven for knives that size. to the best of my knowledge they are only made in 240V. if you decide to go with an evenheat ask whomever orders it to have the bill burke mod done on it. Via Mike Kelly. even heat will know what it means.
Click to expand...

That little tid-bit of info is going into the dark recesses of my mind for when I finally decide to take the plunge.

Good info!
 
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