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Heat Treating and Metallurgy Discussion of heat treatment and metallurgy in knife making.

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Old 09-25-2011, 05:44 AM
Ed Tipton Ed Tipton is offline
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A new steel for the old guy

My knifemaking has so far been confined to using 1080, 5160, and 52100 steels. I recently aquired a considerable quantity of 3/8 4140 rod material. I want to try and use it for blades, but with only 40 points of carbon, I'm concerned about this steels hardenability and edge holding ability. I'm sure that there is someone out there who has tried this steel for knifemaking, and I'm looking for opinions as to the suitability. I'm sure that I'm going to try it, but before I invest a lot intime and effort, I just want some assurance that it's going to be worthwhile. Opinions please.
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Old 09-25-2011, 06:55 AM
WBE WBE is offline
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4140 is chrome/moly gun barrel steel. It makes a decent axe, but no good for knives. Forging needs to be done above 1800?. It will reach around 60Rc at quench, but remember, hardness alone does not equal edge retention. There is just not enough carbon to make a good knife.
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Old 10-01-2011, 12:09 AM
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Thingmaker Thingmaker is offline
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This is a popular steel among blacksmith for making hammers, hot work tools, and the like. It is a great choice for making guards. Carbon content can be as low as 0.38 or as high as 0.43

It is one of the steels which responds well to carburizing. How experimental are you feeling?


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Last edited by Thingmaker; 10-01-2011 at 12:11 AM.
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