help with 440C slipjoints

[CWKnifeman]

I will have this to say about hard spring tempers, this I learned from Brad Vice of Alabama Damascus. When making a slip-joint of: High Carbon Damascus is to use the same temper for the spring as the blade, note the damascus rockwell is around 57 +/-1.0 rockwell. I have been doing this for almost nine to ten years on my damascus folders.

But, as I stated earlier I normally have a blade rockwell of 57 +/-1.0, and a spring rockwell of around 49 +/- 1.5 without any gaulling on my spring or blade. As I rarely have a rockwell higher than this for my blades of 440-C, ATS-34, or CPM-154, and I keep my springs of around the same for all of these types of steel. Even using SV-7 with a rockwell of 58.5 I still use a 49+/-1.0 for the springs.
Curtis

[jdware]

OK, so here are a few pics - photo's aren't great. This spring will have to be remade, as I've done so much regrinding to get rid of the galling each time I've re-fitted it, that it's just too thin and the blade is high. On this particular knife, it may look like the center spring pin is a little too close to the blade, but it's worked fine on the same pattern in O-1.

[Don Robinson]

There's nothing at all wrong with that. Everything looks fine except the blade to spring matchup.

If you're worried about the small gall marks on the spring, you'll always have that. No matter how hard the spring is it always galls a little, then stops.

Is this the problem you've been talking About? If so, there's no problem.

Put a drop of oil on it while it wears in.

[jdware]

yes, that's the galling i mean.......sometimes during the fit-up it feels like the blade doesn't want to move! When you say "except for the blade spring matchup" are you referring to photo #3 where the spring sits too low, or something else?
thanks for the help Don.
Jeff

[Don Robinson]

Originally Posted by jdware

yes, that's the galling i mean.......sometimes during the fit-up it feels like the blade doesn't want to move! When you say "except for the blade spring matchup" are you referring to photo #3 where the spring sits too low, or something else?
thanks for the help Don.
Jeff

Yep, in photo #3 the angle on the blade notch doesn't match the end of the spring. It also looks like the blade tilts upward in relation the the spring.

[Don Robinson]

Great vine filework, Jeff. I've never been able to do that well on my knives.

[jdware]

well, thanks for the help and pointers. I'll be making new springs and trying a lower tempering temperature and will report back.
Jeff

[jdware]

I had a chance to make up a new spring of 440C and tempered at 900F . NO galling this time...... the only marks on the spring and tang look more like burnishing. By the way, the suggestion to temper at 900 came from Brad Stallsmith at Peters Heat Treating, Inc.