I thought a would make a head knife

[electrathon]

When I am using handsaw blades, I do not re-temper them. I cut them out and then sharpen. They likely fall about 55 on a rockwell scale, so they are good but not great. 65-70 hardness would be awsome, hard to sharpen but will stay that way for a long time. Personally, I sharpen everything nowdays on a belt sander, then move on to a "cardboard stone" on a grinder with rouge on it. I can take a unfinished knife to razor sharp in a couple minutes. When I am carving I do still constantly strop, I do it all the time, no matter what knife I am using.

Tomcats explanation of temp was great. Use a magnet and keep testing to see if it sticks. Once it is hot enough, it will no longer stick, quickly do the quench. You can only harden the edge (some sawblades are like this) but I have always done the whole knife.

Hardness on a knife is a double edged sword. If the knofe is easy to sharpen, it will dull quickly. Hard to sharpen and it will hold an edge for a long time. Kitchen knives are a good source of steel to work with. Chicago Cutlery is a good steel, there are many others. If you are at the thrift store pass up the shiney ones, the knives that have a duller finish are better quality. Old files are great steel too, depending on how hard you want to work to shape it though.

[tomcat]

so I use oil to quench. How hot do I need to get it for how long? Cherry red? then quench in oil then do I need to place in oven for a while? Sorry but I want to try this but when I am done I want the dang thing to hold an edge.

How do your knives hold an edge? reasonable time or do you have to strop after every few cuts?

Thanks for all of the info.

Tkleather, if you are uncomfortable with hardening or tempering, you can make the basic head knife and send it to this company and they will do it for $5.50 per piece, you would have to use a different steel like D2 because they only do air hardening, you can call them, they are very helpful and tell them what you want to do and they should keep you on track...Tom..

http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/privacy.php#services

[Tkleather1]

well thanks for all of the info, once I catch up in the leather shop I will try to make one or two.

[TexasLady]

Thank you all it was my pleasure to do it....I, like a lot of others have gotten tons of infomation from the unselfish people on this forum who readily give their secrets away...If something is not clear, feel free to contact me, and remember the info for heat treating and tempering is for O1 steel only, other steels differ, some greatly...Have fun and above all be safe...Tom

8/17/09

Thanks for starting this Thread and for teaching us all that, Tomcat. I'll save the link to this Thread. And, thank you all you 'other people' who each know about different specialties.

TexasLady

Edited August 17, 2009 by TexasLady

[tomcat]

You are quite welcome TexasLady.... ...Tom

[kk1992]

sorry i know this is an old tread butthe harder a steel is the better edge it will hold, butalsothe more brittle it will be. so take a page outta teh japanese book and mix up abatch of brick morter, clay,and a small amount of water. take your mex and bast it all over the blade and handle except for the first 1/2in. part that is the blade. with this you can quench in saltwater and have an incredibly hard edge and a softer back. it's do perfectly for working stressesjust don't drop it wich will shatter the blade.

[Pelallito]

Hello,

I just made a head knife out of 1/16 by 4" O1 steel and was going to post it until I read this great thread. The only thing that I would add to the tutorial , is that the oil should be warmed up over 120 degrees. This is supposed to work better.

Regards,

Fred