My first pair of Kitchen knives

[Swords9023]

1084 H. Carbon Steel. Quenched in Motor oil. Tempered 450 for 2 hours twice. (I might dial it back next time to 425)

[Loneforge]

Hey Swords ....you want a kitchen knife to be nice and hard. It does need any toughness as it will never be abused such as a hunting or a camp knife. In this case I temper at 400F to ensure you remove the brittleness but retain all of the hardness you can! 2 cycles at 400 works for me....but then again this is your shop. Keep them coming.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Looks good to me, the only way to judge the isability is to use them. You can always remove the hilts and reheat treat if they dont hold an edge long enught. So the test is to cut a ripe tomato. Even witht the butcher. Now lets see how you get on with an onion (a sharp nighf wont make you cry near as much). So now use them bith for a week (keep them clean and dry as corosian will dull them faster than cutting nails) test them on a tomato every week and see how long they stay sharp.

[Swords9023]

Sound advice all around. Loneforge, I will remember that with the new carving knife I'm  making. Charles, they both glide through tomatoes and cucumbers. I haven't tried an onion yet as I don't eat them (lol).

The person that bought them told me she absolutely loves them and that they cut better than any kitchen knife she has (granted she only has crappy store bought knives but still it makes me smile that I've finally created something useful)

Cheers.