Jerrod Miller

Thank you. For making this a thing, for making this available to us all, for keeping us up to date on it. For it all. Thank you, Dave and everyone involved.

We all have those moments and gut/knee-jerk reactions. Make a really nice one, post a WIP here (well, in the Sheaths and Leatherwork or Fit and Finish sub forum) and show us how a NICE one is done!

I've always thought it to be pretty cool when makers of kitchen knives provide a custom block for it. There have been a few people that have done this on the forum. Not super quick and easy, but I would definitely think it would be appreciated and would definitely sell the knife with the cost of the block factored in. Otherwise, I'd say Tom's presentation box link is pretty good and not too "Arts and Crafts" at all. It is a delivery box for an item to be used, not display case for a visual only piece of art.

I just checked, the link doesn't work for me. "Sorry, this content isn't available right now"

Hand held isn't quite descriptive enough. You can get a hand held IR thermometer or a hand held reader for a thermocouple wire. I would always suggest avoiding IR for high temp applications (>1000 *F).

Relax. Don't worry. Have a home brew. Wait, wrong hobby. But yeah, don't worry too much. Back when people had to trust their lives to a blade (more than they do today), thermocouples and PID controllers didn't exist (but then again, they're all dead ). And often the difference between what one can do with minimal control and perfection is pretty slim, especially when compared to a blade from a big box store.

Also keep in mind that some alloys like a soak at temperature to dissolve carbides and get more carbon into solution. A temperature readout is generally good enough for this, as you should be able to regulate the blade temp reasonably well. You just don't want to over shoot too hot due to grain growth.

You can get hardness check files, or send a blade out for testing and keep the report to prove your process works. You can also do the brass rod and other cut tests with the blade in front of them. But some people just won't be convinced, and won't buy. Other will.

I love when I see people say "I'm not a metallurgist...". Especially when I get to follow up with this: I am a metallurgist, and they covered it pretty well.

For those finding this thread and wondering what knife is in question, here is Joël's thread showing it off. Personally, I wouldn't want to have a knife with that texture for kitchen work or field dressing an animal, because I would have to spend a little more time cleaning it and I hate doing dishes. The few extra seconds it takes to clean would irk me every time, and the look isn't worth that to me. This is 100% personal preference though. If you loved the look and didn't mind taking a few extra seconds to scrub every time you washed it, I don't see a big problem. I could see some health inspector having a problem due to some blanket rule on porous surfaces, but we all know that there are inherent problems with blanket rules, even if they are the best solution to a problem.

I'd contact http://www.saltforkcraftsmen.org. Their Director/Editor of their newsletter is in Sand Springs, a suburb of Tulsa. They will know.

I was in Australia once. Definitely decided I needed to try Kangaroo, and preferably steak. Finally found a place that had it on the menu. It was good, but beef is better. That said, I liked it better than (mule) deer.

Hold on. There is such a thing as bacon jerky, or do you just mean they have bacon, too? I Googled it. Bacon jerky is a thing. And I must have some.

Stainless steel is stainless because of chrome content that forms a chrome-oxide layer on the surface (it is clear), thus protecting the iron from forming an iron oxide. This can only happen when the chrome doesn't form carbides. This is called "free chrome". You need 10% free chrome to be stainless. Keeping in mind that carbon is much lighter than chrome (more atoms per weight percent), and that there are several chrome atoms per carbon atom in chrome carbide (Cr23C6, Cr7C3, Cr3C2 and the biggies), a little carbon can tie up a munch of chrome. This is why stainless steel has limits on the amount of carbon in it (304 has a 0.08%C limit, 304L has a 0.03%C limit). D2 isn't stainless even though it has more than 10% Cr, because it has too much carbon, thus making its "free chrome" less than 10%. Interestingly, it doesn't take much V to be pretty effective. Generally you only need to add 0.10%V to get good results, and 0.20%V is about the upper end of common additions. That V is forming V carbides (VC). This means it is freeing up more chrome too, since it will preferentially form a carbide before Cr. The term "Chrome Vanadium" when referenced to tools is mainly marketing hype. This is because it doesn't tell you all that much. "Hey guys! This is made from a steel alloy!" Yeah, every steel is an alloy.

To make things worse, you can't even trust 2 wrenches from the same company to be the same material. They may change between sizes, production times (old stock vs new stock), or production plant (they don't necessarily make all their tools in the same facility). This is a pretty sound policy. You never really know what a coating is AND what is under it. If I have something plated that I want to re-purpose, I generally toss it on a slash/campfire that nobody is going to be standing near for a while. Or sandblast it off.