thornforge Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Ok, this one is a bit from left field, but it arose from bladesmithing so I thought I would ask it here. I recently completed a set of sample knives for a lady who wants a set of steak knives, but wasn't sure exactly what she wanted. All good. Got them made and polished up nicely, then took them round to show her. Usual story, oohs and ahhs, handmade knives, recycled materials, native wood handles, blah blah blah. Then she picked one up and 'huffed' on it. That is she breathed on it and watched it for a bit. This she repeated several times, each time watching intently. When I could contain my curiosity no longer, I asked what she was doing. Her reply was that she had been told that she could tell the 'quality' of the steel by how long the condensation took to disappear. ???!!!??? Now this sounds like a bunch of poppycock to me, but what do I know, I'm only a bladesmith . To me steel quality is rated in Carbon content, alloying metals, but mainly in good heat treating. Has anyone heard of this before?? I could see it as a test of body vs. ambient room temperature, or at best the degree of polish, but steel quality?? Over to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted May 1, 2009 Share Posted May 1, 2009 Just charge her double and let her huff away... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thornforge Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 LOL Good idea, shoulda thought of that myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnptc Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 knives are better in the winter when they are cooler ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new guy Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 that sounds like an urban legend to me. that can only tell the density so maybe if the knife is less dense it cools slower or heats faster. maybe that will tell if it has a lot of martensite (thats the hard steel after qeunching right). my .02 worth. although it sounds like some sort of drug reference to me or some crazy alien scheme to take over the world ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bentiron1946 Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Sounds more like when they would bite precious metal to tell the level of purity, the deeper the tooth went in the purer the metal, either that or she wants to be able to tell when one of her guests dies.:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 When you "huff" you breathe on a blade or a crystal glass you add a bit of moisture, Then with a clean wipe you can shine the sruface up really nice.....folks that do this tend to examine the surface closely,,not to tell what the material is. But to determine if there are flaws in the surface the show up. Maybe this led to the belief that anyone could see beyond the surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 who knows what ideas crazy people have, but we do have one member that say's he can actually can tell the alloy of a steel by feel, so maybe she was tasting the metal? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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