Recommendations for hardness in 1084 dagger

[Willie71]

I have a dagger that is 11" long (blade.) I did a clay differential quench. It is 1/4" thick, 1 1/4" wide at the widest, and it has a small fuller. I quenched in Maxim DT48 after soaking at 1480f (+/- 5f) for 5 minutes. I did the stress relieve temper last night at 350f for 90min. I was thinking tempering at 450f for 1h x2. This is for as friend who is a hunter as he wants a last ditch weapon in case he is attacked by a bear. The last thing I would want is a broken blade. This is a pretty big chunk of steel. Is Rc 57/58 appropriate here? Recommendations?

 

[Jason Fry]

From my experience, I think 450 with that regimen will leave you around 60 RC.

 

[Willie71]

I REALLY need a tester!!!! I was going by Cashen's specs. Maybe I'll temper at 450 and see if the edge chips, and try higher temps if needed. Thanks for the comment.

 

[Jason Fry]

I bet the edge won't chip at 450. If you're concerned about durability though, I'd go 475 without a tester, or 500 if you could verify that 475 was still a little hard.

 

[Willie71]

475 it is. Thank you. I will run two temper cycles tomorrow.