dickb Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 I am making a couple of carving knife and fork sets for gifts. The knifes are 1084 and or 1095 steel . I have a few pieces of stock of each type and use them pretty much interchangeably . Have never had any problems. The knives are oil quenched and tempered to 400 degrees F. I want to add a sharpening steel to complete the set. I have plenty of coil springs from automobile shock and/or struts. They are pretty easy to get around here and I don't use anything that looks the least bit rusty or crusty. About 5/8 inches cross section. It's easy enough to straighten them out and forge a nice long taper with a tang . So far, so good , but should temper them a little cooler than the blades ? And how can I leave some long ridges from one end to the other as per commercially available ones ? I can score them prior to heat treating but I think they will burn off. And the second question is, how do I deal with the forge scale on the surface ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 Forge Scale: soak clean unoiled piece overnight with vinegar and wash off scale and oil immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dickb Posted November 6, 2018 Author Share Posted November 6, 2018 Thanks. In my post I used the term "sharpening steel". My mistake, I should have written "honing steel" This will clean off the scale, but will the resultant surface have the right properties for a honing steel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 First off...I'm no expert so take it with a grain of salt... Since a honing steel does not grind away any surface...it only pushes the edge back into proper position and burnishes it a bit...wouldn't that require a hardness that is higher than the knife itself? If softer than the knife, it'd tend to potentially have the knife cut in. IIRC, any texture on the steel is actually so that it increases the pressure per unit area--by having basically micro gaps between the bumps on the steel so the micro bumps can each put pressure on a smaller unit area. When putting the edge on a woodworking cabinet scraper, you use a perfectly smooth and extremely hard round bar to draw out a wire edge-slightly deforming the edge of the scraper under the bar. That often means a good hard-chromed surface so even the shaft of a good quality screwdriver can work. A knife steel is not much different except the knife starts out harder so you aren't drawing as much "edge" under the pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 You can also coat it in brazing flux to keep the oxygen off. I did that with parts I torch hardened at my last shop. The ridges are knurled on factory ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillinomics Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 I've come across multiple non-zirconia hones that were sans-knurling, and they work just fine. I'm with Kozzy in thinking you would want a fairly high rockwell value compared to the knives you've produced. Perhaps even a few passes of hot sanding to give the rod some "grit" prior to HT and do a snap temper to prevent over-tempering. (by no means am I an expert, just my flow of consciousness on the matter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 The comertialy available ones are desighned for wear resistant stainless that hit the market about 40 years ago. The one I use on my carbon steel knives is smooth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
templehound Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 As far as I know honing steels are used at a time good steels with high carbon were rare and more expensive than today. Those days surgical instruments for example were over 60HRC hard, but common working blades mostly ranged in the mid 50's HRC or less. It is only to bring an edge of a less hard knife upright again.Honing steels are not abrassive.(what Kozzy said) due the leverage a honing steel only makes some effect in the middle of the blade, the rest of the blade stays dull If You have a today a blade with 61HRC and hone it on the steel that might have 62-63 HrC, not much will happen. Who tries planing soft wood with a planing blade made of hardwood? By the way those honers make super blades. In Germany 20 years ago this artificial ruby came up and is still the most used sharpening medium....(take google translate)http://de.abrasiv.wikia.com/wiki/Sinter_Rubinsteine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 On 1/28/2019 at 9:38 PM, templehound said: By the way those honers make super blades. Yep, I made one a while back with the original antler handle. It's next to the d-guard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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