Southern Mistress Bowie (finished pro pic)

[D.Ellis]

You have your own unique take on fittings Lin..... it's neat watching your style evolve.
You heat treat the 416 stainless fittings correct? Could you maybe elaborate on that a bit? I am considering using 416 stainless for a fighter/bowie I am working on. I'll be engraving them, not forging, but I think they need heat treated to kick the stainless qualities into gear if I read correctly.
Darcy  

[Lin Rhea]

Thanks fellers.    

Darcy, I don't know if this is what you're looking for but here goes.

I forge the 416 at a high heat never letting it get below red while hammering. High orange is just right but the range of safe working is narrow.

After every forging, tweaking, or high heat cycle, I subcritical anneal. For instance, after forging the piece to shape as in the first picture, I annealed. Then a couple of times after I checked it to the drawing I had to heat it back up and change the angle of the balls or curve or something. I then annealed again. This stuff tends to get hard spots from air hardening I presume.  

If any air hardening at all takes place it would be right where the narrow points are and that might lead to a break or at least make it hard to file. The main thing is that I want to normalize the piece so there is not inconsistencies, which is generally a bad thing in this context. Another reason is that this piece is a challenge to hold while working on it so any aggressive attempts to grip it in the vise might lead to a broken guard.

I worked 2-1/2 days on the guard alone. So, you can see why I was compelled to take such careful measures.

As for engraving, the softer and more consistent
it is through the piece the easier the engraving. No hard spots.

Your question has me wondering if you mean something pertaining to the stain resistance. Is that what you mean?

[D.Ellis]

I was meaning, do you heat treat after forging(and what is the "recipe" for that if you do). I had heard that 416 needs to be hardened and tempered to take full advantage of stain resistance.
Thanks for the reply about the forging.......2 and a half days on the guard.......wow! Looking worth the effort though......really cool guard.
I just noticed that both the lugs are angled forward and not "S" shaped. I was planning that for my next one as well........although I will use mild steel for the guard and stainless for the spacer and butt cap.
I'll engrave the stainless in the annealed state it is in from the supplier, but wondered if I should heat treat them afterwords.
Thanks again Lin.    
Darcy  

[Lin Rhea]

Darcy, I really don't know if that is the case or not. Even if that is the case, I don't know if its worth the risk of breakage. That's just me. I would like to hear more on that if you find out something.

[D.Ellis]

OK. If I find any info I'll post it here.
Darcy  

[D.Ellis]

Just found this.  http://www.speedymetals.com/information/Material50.html
It claims maximum corrosion resistance is obtained by hardening and polishing......although probably not necessary for this application??
Darcy

[Lin Rhea]

Thanks Darcy.

I'm off this knife for a couple more days. I have to be able to give it my full attention to do things right. More pictures over the weekend.
   

[D.Ellis]

Thanks Lin,
Found some more info. Basically for what you are doing, and what I have planned, annealed is probably the most practical.........so you had it nailed down already......and I was overthinking it........why am I not surprised    :D    

Here's the info.
  http://www.schmolz-bickenbach.ca/fileadmin/user_upload/_SCHULUNG_/USA/Ugitech/416.pdf  


And another.......this one states annealed is not usually recommended for corrosion resistance.........best is clean and smooth, and free of any coatings.......and exposed to open air. I though this part was interesting.
 
  "It is most important that oxygen is always allowed to circulate freely on all stainless steel surfaces to ensure that a chrome oxide film is always present to protect it. If this is not the case, rusting will occur as with other types of non stainless steels."


 http://www.interlloy.com.au/our-products/stainless-steel/416-martensitic-stainless-steel-bar/

 

Darcy    

[Lin Rhea]

Darcy, Very interesting.

If I understand this, in the context of our application, it means that basically it (416) should not sit on a wet surface for prolonged time periods or leave debris stuck to it for months or there might be some tarnishing. Again if I understand it, the direct contact with other material for long periods allows the corrosion to bridge through the oxides that should/would otherwise be there in the form of a protective layer under open air environment. The result being rust spots.

[D.Ellis]

That's about how I read it. And it tends to be brittle if tempered in the wrong range, and is not noted for serious impact strenght in the higher hardness levels......so clean and annealed should be as tough and corrosion resistant as we can expect.......within reason. So probably not the best choice for fittings on your carbon Damascus saltwater diving knife    

The high sulphur content is to make it easy to machine.......so it should engrave OK.

Sorry for the thread hijack. Looking forward to the rest of your pics on this.

Darcy  

[Lin Rhea]

I'm glad to hear it in this thread Darcy. It certainly relates to this knife.

[Lin Rhea]

I finished this knife last evening. I think it turned out well. Pictures coming soon.

[Lin Rhea]

   

[ymountainman]

Lin That is Purty!!!Thanks for posting!

[kbaknife]

Gonna have a hard time outdoing that one, Lin.
She's a stunner.

[Doug Campbell]

Man-o-Man what a beauty!!

[cacciatore]

[Track]

Another masterpiece. You made another one of a kind knife that is a true work of art.

[Roughcountry]

Lin
Your mistress is indeed Stunning  

[Lin Rhea]

Thanks guys.    

Here is the pro photo