[TheForge] Re: Finishing forged knife

[Harland Johnson]

Scott, 

I don't think you would choose to do the hardening and tempering last, as 
there is the possibility of warping, and also of decarbonizing the fine 
blade edge. 


I real knife person will probably speak up, but after rough shaping a knife, 
I harden, then thermal cycle a few times to temper. Then I finish the knife 
on the belt sander.  By doing the final stock reduction on  a belt sander, I 
work bare handed to feel the temperature of the blade.  I don't "hog down" 
and frequently dip it in water to keep the blade steel cool and not change 
the temper.  Also by doing the grinding last, you remove the de-carbonized 
steel from what will be the blade edge. 

The final step is the acid etch, which can make a finely sharpened knife 
into a razor sharp instrument.  The acid etch can be like chemically 
sharpening the blade edge. 

 

Scott Lane writes: 

> Greetings,
> 	I have just finished rough forging my first pattern welded blade (and 
> don't anyone dare say Damscus).  It's pretty close to final shape but I 
> left enough to do the final grinding.  As this is my first forged knife 
> ever I have a question:
> 	In what order should I now do the grinding, normalizing (thermal cycling 
> 3 times) and hardening/tempering?  I'll probably normalize before grinding 
> just to be sure so that I can tap out the small kinks, but should I 
> normalize after grinding again?  Heat treat before or after grinding?  
> Polish after heat treating?  Acid etch last?
> 	This is a small Viking style knife that with a whittle tang going into an 
> antler handle.
> 	I'm really looking forward to the advice and to finishing my first knife. 
> 
> Thanks!
> Scott 
> 
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Dann Johnson