Stainless Steele Heat Treat

wmhammond

wmhammond

Well-Known Member
I purchased a 6" X 72" X 3/32" sheet of 440c stainless steel to make kitchen knives out of. It has a rather rough surface - much rougher than carbon steel I have purchased. I have the sheet laid out with a bunch of knives and I plan to start cutting them out tomorrow. My question is how much should I finish them before I send them in to be heat treated and how hard will it be to work them when I get them back? thanks,

Wallace
 
I'd say finish to around 220 to 400 grit. I'm not sure how commercial HT'ing is, but here at home, I finish to 400 at least and it turns out pretty good.

You will be able to grind and polish just fine after HT'ing, but it is harder than pre-HT.

Ken H>
 
Do you HT Stainless at home? I thought it was almost impossible without a bunch of expensive equipment.

-w.
 
You need an accurate heat source (kiln for most of us) some quench plates and some SS foil. And some tongs if you don't want to burn your fingers really badly.
 
I have done Sandvik 12C27 in a forge, but now I've got an oven and a Rc tester to test blades. Use of a muffer pipe with a T/C tip inside the muffer pipe to monitor temp. By watching and using a needle valve to control flame/temperature I was able to hold temp in the required range for 5 to 6 minutes for thin blades and it seems to work just fine. I'm sure my oven allows better control and a better final product, but the forge "can" be used to make a "decent" blade. Aluminum quench plates with used with forge same as with oven.

Ken H>
 
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