Rockwell C Testing

[Major]

Greetings!
I have been hardening and tempering my own knives for some time now, and have always had the Rockwell hardness tested by a company nearby. The indent was always done on the area that would be covered by a guard or bolster. I recently bought my own tester and would like an opinion. Would you guys have the indent visible on the blade to prove that the Rc test was done, or would you keep it hidden. If there are any collectors out there, what's your opinion too? I've seen that some factory knives show the mark, but have never seen it on a custom knife?
Regards Se

[Doug Lester]

The problem with having the testing done on the area covered by the guard or bolster is that it may not be hardened to the same degree as the blade. You may also want to have a differential hardening between the edge and the spine. What I would do if I was wanting to do HRC testing is to clean off the scale after hardening and tempering and have the hardness tested. I would save the final grind until after I had the testing done and remove the indent. Actually I test the blade funtionally but cutting wire and, with the heavier knives, chopping a 2X4. To me it is the performance that matters. Yes, the hardness may be nice to know but it's really unnecessary if I know that the knife will cut soft iron wire without chipping or indenting and it will chop and still hold an edge.

Doug Lester