JimCrawford Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 I noticed that the blade I was working on had a stress crack IN THE BODY OF THE BLADE. Not extending to any of the edges, just this little curve, all the way through the blade. Has anyone seen that sort of thing before, and is it possible to salvage the knife blade? -Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 What type of steel? Is it recycled from a previous life? (leaf spring, coil spring, bed rail, etc.?) I think that a lot of the cracks in recycled material are pre-existing. Other than that, are you getting it too hot?... are you hitting it too cold?... are you normalizing along the way? A lot of variables to deal with... Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimCrawford Posted February 5, 2007 Author Share Posted February 5, 2007 Hi Don. It's "virgin" 1095. I don't believe that I was hammering it too cold, having done the forging in the bright orange to yellow-orange. I did normalize it, post forging. I did some basic grinding and annealed it afterward. Clay coated, heat treated, and then quenched. There are other cracks at the tang-blade juncture that I can explain by uneven heating in a 1 brick forge. It's that oddball crack in the well-heated area that makes me question things. Also, is there a maximum number of anneals that a steel can take before turning into scrap? -J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 Jim, Sight unseen, and based on limited experience, it could still be several things: 1. It is possible to get "bad steel"... flawed from the mill. 2. I have always been taught to work the high-carbon steels from just above critical temp. In my forge (the light level I'm used to), getting toward yellow would be a bit hot. 3. Did you use water for your quench? Even with clay, I could think this would be tricky. I use warm oil. I know a lotta guys have good results with clay & water. 4. That one-brick forge might be a hinderance. Are you able to get the whole blade heated evenly? I would think that, as long as you don't exceed critical temp by too much, you could anneal or normalize as many time as you might think necessary. My advice would be to try another blade from the same steel and see if you have similar problems. That might narrow the list of possibilities. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted February 5, 2007 Share Posted February 5, 2007 BTW, You might want to check out this thread on Fogg's forum:1095 and banding? - Bladesmith's Forum Board Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimCrawford Posted February 6, 2007 Author Share Posted February 6, 2007 Oh, good. Admiral is where I got the steel from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Hicks Posted February 6, 2007 Share Posted February 6, 2007 Jim Talking about recycled material - I have made all my knives from recycled material but maybe 2. Theirs nothin wrong with recycled steel it is very usable. Look it over good cut off anything you ? The only cracking I ever had was when it was to cold to forge & not prepping it right for hardening. When you are movin steel stay in the orange - you can straighten in red but not forging Keep it hot its not gona move cold - look up you forging temp. for the steel start hot and finshed at the lower temp. Learn about normalizing it removes stress and refines the grain. I was so hung up on the forging at or just above critical temp . I would spend days forging a blade . You might want to try some thing with less carbon if you are just starting out If the steel companys were selling bad steel they would be out of a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.