Light Chopper in cold weather question

Prior to using my knives or axes in cold temperatures (normally camping) I warm it with my body heat. Especially if it has been sitting for a little while. I forget if I read this in my Wetterling or Gransfors little manual thing but it's stuck with me since I read it and stick by it. Doesn't really answer any questions to 3V etc. but just what I do. ‍♂️
 
Nate, wouldn't the cryo treatment you put them through help with cold imbrittlement? Or are these done with sub zero instead? Either way, I would imagine it would help quite a bit!
 
rodriguez7 said:
Nate, wouldn't the cryo treatment you put them through help with cold imbrittlement? Or are these done with sub zero instead? Either way, I would imagine it would help quite a bit!
Click to expand...

Yes I use full cryo, yes it prevents any RA conversion in cold weather forming brittle untempered martensite, no it doesn't fix cold embrittlement. It is recommended as best practice to quench in water in between tempers rather than letting the steel cool gradually to prevent the formation of structures that contribute to cold embrittlement and we do that specifically to reduce the problem with embrittlement in cold weather. That said this is not an area where we have deep knowledge. We follow best practices and my limited testing of subzero work has found no extraordinary embrittlement problems (moderate chopping with test blades coming out of cryo, well below -300), though I can not honestly say if or when extreme cold weather would cause a problem with reduced toughness. They're not fragile (you're starting with a very high level of toughness), though I expect there would be a temperature low enough to reduce toughness.
 
When I lived in Ontario in the late 80's, the winters north of International Falls were very cold. Commonly - 20 to - 30 daytime highs Fahrenheit. We used to drive a Skidder pulling 4 logging sleds across the lake ice roads, and the runners would stick above about - 5. When knives were used, we were taught to keep them in our coveralls to keep the steel temp above freezing.

Metal wedges were no problem, and laid in the sled and were pounded on, but were probably not very hard. Of course the knives were cheap, carbon blades... But never tried to drive one through frozen wood.
 
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