heat treat service?

[brittgudowski]

hi guys,
i don't have a heat treat oven so im wandering does anyone know of a good place to send blanks to?like 1095,d2,440c?
thanks,
britt

[mdagley]

For your D2 and 440C I would recomend Paul Bos. He will heat treat to your specs and each blade is individually Rc'd. He only does the air hardening steels.
Here's the link to his site:

http://www.buckknives.com/resources/...s_Brochure.pdf

As for the 1095, perhaps you can find a local knife maker to heat treat for you.
It may be helpful to include your location in your profile here.

-Mike-

[Ray Rogers]

Paul Bos is great but unless he's changed his method of operation since I used his services he only works with batches of 20 blades or more at a time. For single blades of 440C or D2 or other air hardening steels I'd suggest Texas Knifemakers. They charge $5 a blade and offer cryo services if you want it. Personally, I'd stay away from D2 as it has been too prone to failure to suit me.

For carbon blades there really aren't any big pro shops to send them to. The reason is that it is just so simple to do it yourself that there is no money in it for the commercial outfits. You may find an individual out there who will do the work for you (there are several) but then your knife will actually be his knife and your knife. Why not just take that next step and start to HT your own carbon blades? The HT is the heart of the blade, that's when you will really be making your own blades. On small blades the job can be done with a torch but a better way is to build a small forge for heat treating. There are plenty of people here who can guide you through building a tiny forge. It can be done with a few hours work and less than $100 in parts (much less if you can scavenge a propane regulator).......

[brittgudowski]

thanks ray.
it's always good to hear what you have to say.
thank you.
britt

[mdagley]

Ray,

Just a quick FYI.....

I have been usingPaul Bos's services for over 20 years and, in that time, has never restricted the number of blades he will heat treat for a knifemaker. His per 20 batch pricing is much better, $70 the last time I checked, with a per blade charge of $14 for singles/small batches. They don't have to all be the same type of steel, either.

Each blade is heat treated to the makers specs, cryo'd, and Rc'd. This, in itself, is worth a the price. I once used another heat treater and wound up with a blade that was not as hard as it should have been (didn't discover this until after the knife was completed---PITA!). $14 per blade (on small batches or singles) is cheap insurance.

Just my $.02......

-Mike-

[Ray Rogers]

Thanks, Mike! I always sent 20 or more at a time because that's how he quoted to me and I never worried about it. I agree, the extra service is worth the money but you know how it is with money these days so the Texas Knifemakers is a reasonable alternative and I've heard they do good work.

Paul is a gent though and always goes the extra mile. Once, he even did a carbon blade for me when I threw one in the batch not knowing at the time that he didn't do carbon blades.

Thanks for the update.......