Thanks for this video Stuart. This is exactly what I was looking for. It's obvious to me now that I need a forge and not just a rose bud to do heat treat on 52100.
Hi Stuart,I have been wondering about Hardox 400/450 and 500,can they be heat treated? Hardox 400 comes with a hardness of 400 HBW = RC approx 43 Hardox 450 =450 HBW = RC 47.? Hardox 500 =500 HBW = RC 51.? These are flexible and can be bent,they make earth mover,Back hoe's etc buckets from it as it has high wear resistance. Is this any good as knife steel? Or is it too flexible even though it is hard? ie,not enough carbon? heres a link to the properties for the 500 www.mtladv.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/152_HARDOX_500_UK_Data-Sheet.pdf I am a pipe welder and have also welded loads of this stuff in between pipe jobs.
I am not familiar with Hardox but according to its specsheet it is very low in carbon which is what makes steel hardenable. I imagine it would be very flexible but not retain an edge for very long. Perhaps a water quench may push up its hardness but not by much. For knives anything higher than 0,6 carbon is ideal.
Normalising,is this annealing ? and are you doing it to get the crystalline structure all uniform before you harden it? Does it the harden more evenly I apologise if you have explained this,i have tinitus and the sound of the forge makes it impossible for me to hear your,hard enough without the forge in the background.
Normalising is not annealing. It is the process of restructuring the steel after the forging process, effectivly breaking up and refining the grain before hardening. It can be followed by annealing which is similar but followed by a slow cooling process which softens the steel making it workable before hardening. A refined grain will make a stonger knife with a less brittle structure
Stuart Smith Okay,understood.I just made a knife from a hacksaw blade.Big one,i annealed it,at least i thought i had,got it up to above magnetic and the buried it in perlite for a slow cool.When i went to drill the handle it was nigh on impossible,did it again,and again.But same result.What could i be doing wrong? Apologies for all the questions,thanks in advance.
I am from Bulgaria and I can only find 1050 from the 10' series, which is mosly used for swords. Can I use it for knives and if I can what kind of knife I would get in the end?
1050 is fine for knives but it may not get as hard as you will need for good edge retention. to get a harder edge from 1050 try a water quench. But not for sword size only knife size blades.
LUNG SUN Ed Fowler does this often. I've not quite mastered it yet there is some debate about the benefits. I've not enough experience to weigh in really.
Outstanding video! Thanks again Stuart. I have learned quite a bit from you. Would you do a video on (or explain) setting the bevels. I am having trouble with setting one side but when I forge the opposite the first is now flat and off center. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I tilt the blade and still it goes off center and gets flat on one side. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
+Stuart Smith (Smith Hand Forged Knives) Thank you so much. I look forward to the instruction. I am sure others may be having the same issue so it will benefit many. Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and skill.
pretty much but you need a larger forge or oven to heat it evenly. I put my forges back to back to get a longer heating "tunnel". You may want to temper your swords a little higher because flexibility is more desirable than hardness in long blades.
Thanks for this video Stuart. This is exactly what I was looking for. It's obvious to me now that I need a forge and not just a rose bud to do heat treat on 52100.
Love those kind of straight to the point explanation video. Thank you for this !
A nicely done tutorial. Thanks, it was educative.
Hi Stuart,I have been wondering about Hardox 400/450 and 500,can they be heat treated?
Hardox 400 comes with a hardness of 400 HBW = RC approx 43
Hardox 450 =450 HBW = RC 47.?
Hardox 500 =500 HBW = RC 51.?
These are flexible and can be bent,they make earth mover,Back hoe's etc buckets from it as it has high wear resistance.
Is this any good as knife steel? Or is it too flexible even though it is hard? ie,not enough carbon?
heres a link to the properties for the 500 www.mtladv.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/152_HARDOX_500_UK_Data-Sheet.pdf
I am a pipe welder and have also welded loads of this stuff in between pipe jobs.
I am not familiar with Hardox but according to its specsheet it is very low in carbon which is what makes steel hardenable. I imagine it would be very flexible but not retain an edge for very long. Perhaps a water quench may push up its hardness but not by much. For knives anything higher than 0,6 carbon is ideal.
low and slow like pork....good tip, great video..
Love your vid - full of explanation to the minute details
Normalising,is this annealing ? and are you doing it to get the crystalline structure all uniform before you harden it?
Does it the harden more evenly
I apologise if you have explained this,i have tinitus and the sound of the forge makes it impossible for me to hear your,hard enough without the forge in the background.
Normalising is not annealing. It is the process of restructuring the steel after the forging process, effectivly breaking up and refining the grain before hardening. It can be followed by annealing which is similar but followed by a slow cooling process which softens the steel making it workable before hardening. A refined grain will make a stonger knife with a less brittle structure
Stuart Smith
Okay,understood.I just made a knife from a hacksaw blade.Big one,i annealed it,at least i thought i had,got it up to above magnetic and the buried it in perlite for a slow cool.When i went to drill the handle it was nigh on impossible,did it again,and again.But same result.What could i be doing wrong?
Apologies for all the questions,thanks in advance.
I hear carbon steels don't scale much. do I need to worry if I don't have an anti-scale compound or an airless forge?
I am from Bulgaria and I can only find 1050 from the 10' series, which is mosly used for swords.
Can I use it for knives and if I can what kind of knife I would get in the end?
1050 is fine for knives but it may not get as hard as you will need for good edge retention. to get a harder edge from 1050 try a water quench. But not for sword size only knife size blades.
thank you :)
+Stuart Smith (Smith Hand Forged Knives) I forgot to ask. How to temper it after the quench?
+Blacky Chan 180degC for 3 x 1 hr allowing to cool to room temperature between cycles.
thank you for the quick and good answer :)
I have heard people doing triple quench on 52100. Have you tried that? What is your opinion on that? thanks
LUNG SUN Ed Fowler does this often. I've not quite mastered it yet there is some debate about the benefits. I've not enough experience to weigh in really.
what's with all the bottles?
+tone1132 We fill them with water and use them for cutting competitions.
+Stuart Smith (Smith Hand Forged Knives) oh that makes sense! love the videos by the way. thanks!
Excellent video.
Outstanding video! Thanks again Stuart. I have learned quite a bit from you. Would you do a video on (or explain) setting the bevels. I am having trouble with setting one side but when I forge the opposite the first is now flat and off center. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I tilt the blade and still it goes off center and gets flat on one side. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I have a show this weekend but I'll whip up something next week for you.
+Stuart Smith (Smith Hand Forged Knives) Thank you so much. I look forward to the instruction. I am sure others may be having the same issue so it will benefit many. Again, thank you for sharing your knowledge and skill.
Finally a video with a good explanation on heat treating, thank you :)
Happy to help
Is this the same process you would use for a sword?
pretty much but you need a larger forge or oven to heat it evenly. I put my forges back to back to get a longer heating "tunnel". You may want to temper your swords a little higher because flexibility is more desirable than hardness in long blades.
Oh okay, thanks a lot :)