Rockwell Hardness testers

Jack O'Neill

Jack O'Neill

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Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Messages
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I would like to buy a rockwell tester for my blades as I am now starting to do my own heat treat . Any recomendations on where to look for one . The best price I found so far for a new one was $1250.00 from MSC . Most of the ones on e-bay scare me as there is not much info or they say they need repair .

Any one ever used the rockwell testing files?? . Of course I would like not to have to spend a fortune but at the same time I would like to know what I am achieving in the heat treat .

Thanks for any info you can give me , I would really appreciate it .
 
Try Use-Enco.com. Model #505-1897 is on sale for under $700. I've heard from several people that this tester works well. Maybe owners of this will chime in.
 
Well, if you really want to know what the Rc is, then get a new one. The Enco model mentioned should be fine. All that said, it probably doesn't matter what the reading is if you test your blades and check the edge. If it doesn't roll or chip, it is spot on. The only good area to test on a blade is the tang.....and that never cuts anything. If you are doing stainless, a tester is of more use, otherwise it is a big expensive toy ( and I have one).
 
Keep an eye out for an Ames hardness tester.

It's a handheld unit that's Ideal for knifemaking.

I got mine for $150 on eBay, though it seems more makers have discovered them and driven up the price...
 
I have the one from Enco, Jack. :)

I waited till it went on sale, and had a "good customer" type of email with another 10% off. Ended up getting it delivered to the shop for about $650. :) (HAD to pay for lift-gate even though I told them I could lift it off the truck ;) ).

I agree with Stacy for the most part... But it is really nice to do some carefully monitored shop tests and have the tester there as part of the process :)
 
I second the Ames hand held. I have one and a couple test blocks. With a bit of practice I get reading close to the test block numbers and I am sure the readings I get off my knives are well within .5 points. You have to use them on a flat, but that goes for all RC testers as far as I can tell. Handy and don't take up much room.
 
Thanks guys for the input and replies . I have looked at the Ames and thought that would be real convenient but have not seen one in a good price yet . Heck , just the ship cost of a bench top model is $200.00 . I'll keep looking .
 
I've got an Ames but gave up after totally failing to get reliable readings from it. Maybe I
should try again.

Also have the special files. They're a different sort of test. Less precise because they
only come in 5Rc increments and its a scratch, not penetration test. On the other hand
they can be reliably and easily used up against the edge and they work as well on
damascus as they do on anything else.

Both types of test are probably useful.
 
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I picked up a used PTC 415C Rockwell C portable hardness tester from ebay a while back for a couple hundred bucks. It is designed to chuck in a drill press, and it came with a couple of reference blocks. When testing flat surfaces on a rigid setup, it will read within 0.5 C. Here's what it looks like (not mine, but the newer model):

415c-unit-only.jpg


They are very proud of these things when they are new as they sell for a shade under $1000.

--nathan
 
Thanks Dan and Nathan for your input .

And thanks Nathan for the pic , I have seen those but was not sure what they were and you are right , they are proud of them .
 
Have you tried the files that Dan mentioned? They are about $95 shipped on Amazon. They sell the individual ones for 17.50 plus shipping.
 
panch0 said:
Have you tried the files that Dan mentioned? They are about $95 shipped on Amazon. They sell the individual ones for 17.50 plus shipping.
Click to expand...

Thanks Pancho , I'm aware of them but as Dan stated they are in 5 point increments . Gives you an idea but it is a heck of a spread . Don't want to spend the 100 bucks in case I find a real one reasonable enough , we shall see .

Nick Wheeler told me of a machine shop 45 miles from here that will test them for me .
 
I have a question. instead of using files, why aren't knives used by pressing the edges together to see which one gets notched, and thus which is harder. it seems like it would be easier to tell which is harder that way, besides this would test the hardness where it counts right on the edge.
 
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