Theres likely a thread for this but I couldn't find it. Noob question about stainless. Can I heat treat stainless using a home made propane forge to the 1000+ C needed for stainless? I've been asked to make a sushi knife for my niece and I've never ventured into using stainless before. Any quick tips/advice? I've done lots of carbon knives and read up on how to do it so I'm not a total noob. Any quick tips/advice for a stainless virgin? Much appreciated and apologies if this exists somewhere already. I'm not great with searching. I get lost and sidetracked easily : )
Hi Todd, that's a big old 'maybe'. I've previously tried to treat HSS by eye in my forge - it work very well. 1. Does your home made forge get that hot? If it can weld then then you're golden. 2. Do you have a way of measuring the temperature - type k thermocouple with readout. 3. Can you hold a consistent temperature for the soak time? If your forge is out-doors and it's windy then that'll be a problem. I'm pretty sure that some one on this forum was heat treating stainless with a propane forge so it's totally possible. Another option might be to send the knife to knifemaker.ca for treatment (under $20 plus shipping I think). PS. Dan has really good plans on his blog for a heat treat oven. I built one; works great. Cheers, Magnus
Todd, What Magnus said. The temperature and soak time are critical for good results. Use a known steel. For a sushi knife I would go with AEB-L as it can be stropped to a razor edge and is excellent for slicing kind of work. Not as good on bones and hacking. Most heat treatment service providers will do cutlery stainless. It might cost a little for the service and possibly postage, but I think you'd be impressed with the results. If you cannot find anyone locally, perhaps someone in the forum can help you out. There's a few members in Ontario that have their own ovens. Dan
Thanks Magnus. My forge is indoors but i don't have a readout for it. It's a basic one i only use for heat treating. I do have one of those remote thermometer dealies. It may go that high but i don't know how accurate it would be. I do need to look into a HT oven. RIght now I'm nursing some stitches and i the planning phase for when I can get back out in the shop.
Thanks Dan. I think I'll have to end up sending it out. Between work and all of the other projects on my "honey do" list, I won't be able to make a HT oven for some time. Thanks Dan and Magnus. This is what I was looking for. Much appreciated.
