Heat treating 1080+

[Scottish-Dave]

Hi all,

I have very recently tried my hand at knife making, my 1st attempt was a piece of 1080+ flat stock 5mm thick, I made my own version of a bushcraft knife, I watched a lot of videos on you tube and so I had the basics in mind for heat treating, I managed to get a hold of a devilforge and got the blade to non magnetic fairly quickly, quenching it in warmed rapeseed oil (uk version of canola as far as I have been told) using a cutting motion and it turned out fine, no warps, no cracks. I was delighted. This has since turned out to be a massive dose of first time luck. Project number 2 a chef knife for my better half, same steel although this was a bit thinner 3mm. Heated to non magnetic (I am new to this so I fear I may have overheated) quenched in the rapeseed oil in a cutting motion and it came out with a noticeable bend. I am aware using thinner metal and possibly keeping it in a bit too long may have been my down fall, my question is this, this happened yesterday and I got a little dis-heartened (1st time blues I guess) so I left it for the night to think about my options with it. I Am keen to get back out and sort it today, my worry is that I have left it to cool overnight. So it will still b Brittal, I know I still have to temper before I attempt to straighten, but I thought about putting it back in the devilforge heating back up and quenching again and try straightening it back up before it gets too cold, Will this work? Or if not should I try clamping it up is such a way that straightens it then put in the oven for its tempering cycles? Or have I fucked it all together by leaving it overnight. Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Dave

 

[Onies]

Congrats on your first knife, and your second blade isn't too far gone. The warp could have been caused by uneven grinding, but it's not catastrophic. What I have done successfully in the past is to use a few pennies, a file and a couple of clamps. The file is used as a straight edge, the pennies as spacers. Place the knife along the file with the outer bend on the file. Place a couple pennies at the bottom of the bend and clamp at either end, taking the slight bow out of the blade. It's important to note, at this point, don't bend it too much. Place in your kitchen oven for a normal temper cycle at above 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Once removed, allow it to cool as you normally would. Unclamp and check for straight. The bend should be noticeably less. It might take 2 or 3 cycles, but I find this easier than re heat treating. I believe it was Rick Marchand who posted about this a few years ago, and it does work for me.

 

[Scottish-Dave]

Thanks very much for the quick reply onies, much appreciated.

cheers

Dave

 

[TNutter]

did it work?

Thanks very much for the quick reply onies, much appreciated.

cheers

Dave

scottish-dave