newbie question

[Bowitis]

I am working on my first knife. I have a SNAP ON wrench (black not Chrome).  I was told that it is 1095. I ended up with a piece or plate 1/4in. x 10in. x 4in.  I have my blade (full tang) rough cut out, after I annealed it.  Before I quench it and temper it, how close can I get to the finished product. I been told that if I get it to thin it will warp, if I don't get close enough it will be hard to work with.

Thanks in advance!
Kevin

[D.Ellis]

Take it thin.....it'll probably warp anyway, but that can be fixed after.
I'd take the edge down to about 40 thou......

Keep in mind it may not be 1095.......and if it is, it will need a fast quenchant to properly harden......real fast oil or water/brine.
It's easier and cheaper to start with known steel, but you still can end up with a good knife from lots of salvaged materials, so.......have fun and do your best.......ask if you have anymore questions and the gang here will be glad to help all they can......they's good peeps   :D

Darcy  

[gudspelr]

Darcy gives some great advice above. Before I got calipers and that kind of stuff, people advised me to take the edge to between a dime and nickel in thickness. (Now, I'd be more inclined to the dime side of things. A nickel is pretty thick and depending on your tools, it can be a bugger getting the harder steel worked down.) You may still get some warping during the quench, but as Darcy mentioned, that can most often be remedied. I once tried to re quench a little hunter I'd messed the heat treat up on and only realized after doing finish grinding and the edge was really thin. Figured if I lost it in the quench, it wasn't any worse than the already unusable knife. The edge was thin enough that it "potato chipped"...which is a lot tougher to deal with (but also a little interesting to look at...and painful   ).

Good luck and be sure to post some pics. It's always fun seeing someone start the addiction    .

Jeremy

[Bowitis]

Thank you gentlemen,  That helps a lot.