A-2 question.

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KNIFE MAKER
I am wondering how thin I can go at the edge of a 7" bowie style blade prior to HT....I did a batch and left the .100...just to play it safe. lol. Now I'm driving up the stock of the 36 grit belt companies....

I see some guys are doing as thin as .020 at the edge. But those seem to be 5160 or 10xx type steel. I don't see any info on A-2 in this regard. my blades are air quenched, no plates. Anybody done A-2 and how thin did you go?

Thanks!
 
Not A2, but have ground D2 to pretty much final dimension .015 to .010? (Can't remember) and quenched with plates and did not have trouble with warping or decarb. However, I have almost never had trouble with warping for one reason or another, so it may not work the same for you.
 
On pretty much all of my fixed blade knives I leave .050 before heat treating. Then post heat treat/temper I grind to .015-.020.

This includes knives I have done in A-2.
 
When I worked with A-2, I took it to final dimension. No edge problems ever. I cooled with forced air and the blades were coated with ATP-641.
 
I used my EvenHeat oven. Been a while since I HTed any A-2, but I think I heated to 1775° with a soak.
 
Are you guys heating A2 or D2 in a propane forge or electric oven?
Electric oven. You have to soak it and most guys do an equalize at 1400 before soaking at final temp. I love A-2 it is an amazing steel. The finest grain cast steel approaching powdered metal grain structure....which prolly means they'll never make a powdered metal version cause it won't be much of an improvement (un-like powdered D2...which is greatly improved)
 
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