Overheard a guy at the scrap yard say he never heat treats his knives, just hardens them in oil and calls it done

I was at the yard down on Elm Street last Tuesday picking up some old coil springs when this older fella started talking about his knife making. He said he just gets the steel to non-magnetic, quenches it in canola, and skips the temper cycle completely because it's 'good enough for what he does.' Kinda made me wonder how many folks out there are skipping the temper and ending up with brittle blades that snap on the first hard use. Has anyone here ever tested a blade that wasn't tempered and seen how it holds up?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy8323d ago

I mean, non-magnetic is just a rough guide, not a proper heat treat temperature for most steels.

riley_schmidt3d ago

idk man, maybe it's just me but is it really that serious? like, unless you're trying to hit some specific hardness for a knife or something, non-magnetic gets you close enough for most stuff. @troy832 probably has a point for precision work, but for a backyard forge or a quick job, it's not like it's gonna ruin anything.