knife question... stainless

[Dick in Seattle]

I tried to send this earlier, but it never showed.  Must have skipped a step ... if it shows up twice, my apologies...

I want to get in on the great Trad Gang knife trade.  I've "made" knives in the past from bought blades, really just made up handles on my own, not kits.   I know bought blades are OK, but for this I'd like to try some stock removal blade making.  I hit the thrifts this morning hoping to find a few old carbon blade knives to work from... no such luck... all stainless.   I picked up a few stainless blades for 50 cents and a dollar that look like they might have possibilities, but for all i know, they're worthless at my level of non-expertise.   So, the following proverbial dumb questions:

Can you anneal or remove the temper from stainless for grinding?

Can you grind slow and cool and not ruin the temper that's there?

Can you retemper in a practical, non-high tech manner?

Finally, are there perhaps any Trad Gang bladesmen here in the Seattle area who might be willing to have me visit and get some guidance?

Dick in Seattle

[Jeremy]

Depending on the steel type, you may be able to do the heat treat without fancy equipment.  It'd take some playing around though.

IMO you'd have better luck grinding it slow, barehanded, with a bucket of water next to you to dunk it periodically to cool.  Hopefully sticshooter shows up and chimes in... he does this all the time.

Smokey Mountain Knife Works was having a "seconds" sale on Old Hickory kitchen knives.  1095 high carbon steel blades.  

If you're thinking of annealing and doing the heat treat yourself you may as well just buy some annealed bar stock from Texas Knife Supply or Jantz Supply.  It's save you a step and cost the same.

[Dick in Seattle]

thanks, Jeremy.   slow grinding I might be able to handle... something fun to try, anyway.

dick in seattle

[shootrmn]

Stainless is less sensetive to temper change than carbon steel because of the high nickel and chromium content. annealing is a pretty intense process and requires powdered lime for cooling I have tried and never been successful at anealling and retempering without getting the blade to brittle. I have been forging for about twenty years and do pretty well with high carbon so that is what I generally use however I have to try a peice of stainless every now and then. best of luck to you. and please post a result when you're done.

[JEFF B]

yep you can re temper it or slow grind. with bucket of water next to you to dunk it in if it gets warm. but take it slow. temper using a blow tourch.     :campfire:good luck on that iwould like to see some pics when finished.