July 31, 200916 yr what is the best way to temper a double edged dagger? Im looking to get a good hard edge maybe about 55-57Rc with a softer core. what would be the best way to accomplish this?
July 31, 200916 yr For you to get the most from the blade ifouare going to do ityourself you will will need several things aheat source that will give reliable heat the whole length of the blade. a quench tank with the proper medium for the type of steel you are using. And if you are wanting a specific Rc scale test you will need access to a testor or be very skilled in judging hardness. There is simply not way I can give you a simple answer on hardening and tempering a blade in the rest of the hours of this day. Not being short. It is just not an easy answer kind of thing. However there is a lot of information on this site. The knife stickies and bp 0078 are two of the places you may want to start.
July 31, 200916 yr What type of steel is it made of and what size is it will mean a lot if you plan on a diff. heat treat? Bob
July 31, 200916 yr differentially hardening or tempering a dagger is not an easy thing to do. If it is a wide balde then you may be able to clay coat the spine, but probably your best bet would be to heat until only the edges are at critical and quench then (so the centre would not reach full hardness), then temper in the oven as normal. To be honest, daggers are rubbish cutting tools and only really any good for stabbing, so a softer springy blade would be the best temper for the job. Also much easier to accomplish ;)
July 31, 200916 yr The *best* way would be to send it to a professional knife heat treater. You really have to tell us what alloy it's made from to get any good guesses. Some alloys do not respond well to attempts to differential harden, others can be a pain to differential temper. If you don't know wjat it was made from I would go with differential tempering using tempering tongs.
July 31, 200916 yr Isn't there some really shallow hardening alloys that might achieve what he's after just by doing a normal heat treat just by nature of the edges being thinner and the spine thicker? If you're asking us how to accomplish this on an already made blade without telling us what alloy........... I say, heat it to a high yellow heat, just before sparking, then quench in super quench that's got shaved ice in it, then temper in the oven at 400 for an hour, and let us know how it turns out.
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