Printable View
Hey yall,
tell me me if I might have found a good find. I've went to a knife shop near where I live and walked by the knife making department and found some 2" razor blanks (no scales) made from 1095 carbon steel. All wedges for about $5 each. They all have no edge on them. But what do you think? That is all the info I have.
are they already treated and tempered? if not unless you have the equipment and knowledge pass on them. if they are heat treated and tempered and the geometry is correct then you may be able to use them.
That is above my pay grade for sure. Could be anything including RSO
Other than if they are heat treated and tempered, are there any good questions that I could ask. Which either way, $5 is not bad for something to play around with or at least make a nice dispay knife. :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by kn4wd
It looks like the price might be cheaper then the cost of 1095 stock. Do you have a grinder, forge, anvil, heat treat oven ? If you do, then it may be a deal for you IF you like the shape and profiles. It would save some time.
2 inch is kind of short for a razor if you are talking length, width wise 2 inch blade spine thickness would be close to 1/2 to set the bevel. pop a pic so I can se what you are trying to deal with.
What if I so happen to have access to a muffle furnace at my work that reaches temp ranges of 100°C to 1100°C and welding supplies for free?:w would that be good? If so what else might I need?
I'm moving this to the Forge Forum. I can't say what you'd need, but those guys can. One thing I'd advise is photos of these things. They're cheap enough, but no sense throwing $ away in case they are not appropriate to do what you are aiming at.
Here is some pics of them. Hope this helps. Attachment 187179Attachment 187180Attachment 187181
Thanks. I think I'm going to get a hold of geezer and ask him a few questions.
Invite him to the thread so we can all read :<0)
Those narrower ones finish to about 9/16ths at the max. Buy the widest ones! Still, the steel is great. Very good price, I didn't see them in a catalog for some years now.
~Richard
Follow the link from 32t above to learn more.
Well looks like I will be buying myself some blanks.Quote:
Originally Posted by Geezer
Looks like good stuff.
I wouldn't mind a half dozen...not kidding. PM sent...
To tell if they are heat treated you can tap one on the others spine. The sound will be a dull or a "tink". You will know for sure if they are hard or soft. Either way, still interested
I received my blanks in the mail today Neil. They are not heat treated & will finish out at a small 5/8 or large 4/8. You will be able to stamp the steel if you wish. How do you know it's 1095 steel? I ask this because it matters with the quench. Thank you for allowing me to participate in this, should be fun!Quote:
Originally Posted by rlmnshvstr8
Sadly woo only know by what the man at the knife shop told me. He was the one who told me it was 1095Quote:
Originally Posted by shooter74743
Mike Blue hardened all mine so he may chime in shortly. They were very hard when he got done! so, of all the smiths, he would know for sure what the cycle hardening and tempering would be best. It was more than just a hardening and tempering in two steps.
~Richard
I PM's our Master Heat Treatment guy, Mike Blue and his reply was this:
"Hello Scott,
Those blanks heat treated quite nicely without a lot of hassle. I austenitized to 1500 F and held to soak for five minutes then quenched in canola oil. Rc was around 60, but my notes are not right in front of me."
This is what they will get then, I will report back later with results. Mike uses salts for his heat treatment and has infinite control of his equipment & I work with fire...but I am sure I can get close enough that your stones or face would never know off the blades.
For those who don't know Mike, he has forgotten more than I will ever know about heat treating...a true master and gentleman. We are blessed to have him a member here on SRP.
Addendum: a question came up about tempering these blades. I recommend starting at 375 F for two hours. If the scale is ground off there should be a light yellow/gold color from superficial oxides that will confirm a ballpark target point. No, I don't triple temper or other mysterious methods. The rule is: get the blade hot and quench, temper once and done for simple carbon steels.
High alloy (read stain resistant or complex alloy tool steels) steels are something I do not do very much. HT and tempering of those materials have different rules.
Yes, I have a complete salt bath setup for precision's purposes. The initial batch of test blades from Herder that required heat treatment were also tested in a simple canola oil quench that proved more than adequate to achieve hardness. As I recall, the oil was room temperature say 60F at the time. No prewarmed oil was used. The salt baths have their uses but not everyone can afford this kind of setup.
Austenitizing in a forge environment means there will be some scale to remove after heat treatment. Austenitizing in salt baths reduce this requirement.
I hope this clarifies some items.
HT is done, just came in to temper. My oil was at approx 50F (same temp as it is outside), so I heated the oil to "warm" with a couple of rods that I keep around for such purpose. I kept forge as close to 1500F as possible, but didn't keep the probe in the fire while the blade was in. I would check and it stayed pretty constant once stabalized. Each blade would take a few minutes to heat up and I would start timer once they started to coalesce (sp?). The only part that may not be hard will be the monkey tail as this is where I used the tongs. I believe one blade warped, but will give them a good looking over once they have tempered...which they are doing as we speak.
I will get pics up, they are final ground now & I've hit the buffer once to see where they need some hand sanding before final buffer and scales.
Final ground & one trip to the buffer in the shop on black buffing compound. The pics will show finger prints, wax and so on on the blades...but you can get the idea. Now to get to making some scales...did I mention that I'm a steel guy and not so much a scale guy?Quote:
Originally Posted by shooter74743
Attachment 188976
Anoother pic for you...
Attachment 188977
A pic of the bevels after honing say more than a thousand words :)
Of the razors of course, not the letter openers :p
EDIT:
As for the grease and smudges: after buffing, rub the blades with dish washing detergent, and then rub them with warm water to clean them. Then rub with canola oil or balistol. That will keep the blades shiny and protected. If you leave them with fingerprints and grease, you're going to regret it later because that will leave marks.
I think it was MikeBlue that posted somewhere that it is a US thing to create a product from start to finish. Maybe you should match yourself up with a scale maker. :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by shooter74743
Wow those look nice can't wait to see how mine will turn out.Quote:
Originally Posted by shooter74743
Bruno, this is the second time to the grinder on the two real razors, the other little ones weren't much of a challenge. The razor by the AA battery is the one that I got the center a little thin...honing it will tell the story. I have a feeling I will loose about a mm of blade width to get enough steel to keep an edge stable. This same blade will get a little texture treatment done to it before I dip in ferric chloride. The one on the left will just get a set of scales and dipped in a weakened solution of ferric chloride to show the hamon, it's the blade I made over at Charlie's during the summer.
It's not that I can't, it's just that I don't get the same joy out of making scales as I do working with steel.Quote:
Originally Posted by 32t
I wasn't questioning you ability just the thought of spending your time at what you enjoy. There are I am sure many that are the exact opposite.Quote:
Originally Posted by shooter74743
Here ya go Bruno, the darkened steel really amplifies the imperfections in the final grind. Ferric chloride twice & then cold blue a couple times.
Attachment 189805Attachment 189806Attachment 189807
Nice job Shooter
So I know very little about making razors, and it will show in my question. It is hard for me to see in the pictures, but I think you are saying that the bevel is slightly uneven because the grind is slightly uneven. When final grinding the razor do you set the bevel and then try to get the grind even with the set bevel?
It's not much, but the eye can see what can't be measured. With the blade being almost black, a shiny bevel shows everything. An en-even grind can be a lot of things. My grind is straight, but there may be a thousandth here or there with more or less material on that side and it shows by being a little thicker. I'll see if I have any pics that magnify it a bit better to show.
Attachment 189891
Attachment 189892
Notice at the toe on one side the bevel is a little wider, on the other side it's a bit thinner. On the heel, same thing... Like I said, it's not much but it's there. This is the "proof in the pudding" for a freehand grinder, showing the difference between apprentice, journeyman, and master.
Looks good!
That is one of the down sides of etching the blade really dark... If you have a flaw it's going to show up.
