A Seedy Lot
Bushmaster
Next one will be out of 1v to gain a little more spine thickness.
Seedy knives
- Thread starter A Seedy Lot
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A Seedy Lot
Bushmaster
So I think for the most part I am done with the 1v experimenting. In the amount of time it took me to run all the coupons and testing I could of had over 100 blanks heat treated.
Here once again are the hardest coupons with the stock steel.
I then used a temper anneal which involved wrapping the coupons in foil and heating to 1640° for one hour, air cooled until i could hold them in my hand, and then 1400° for 24 hours. That was basically a day and half of having the oven running which is not good on the electrical bill.
I then heat treated the coupons yesterday at the same given range of temps and times as I previously did but I also added a 1950 austenitizing as Crucible says that 1950 is best for impact applications in their data sheet.
When I first tested the coupons last night they were in the 50s for hardness which pointed to deeper decarb than I realized so I surface ground them thinner and retested and here are the results.
Definitely a little improvement for hardness but I question if the extra effort is worth the results. I know we are now is a knife snobbery time where many feel if the knife is not above 60 Rc it is inferior crap. But I also know that I have been using a 59 Rc wood cleaver most of the winter to make daily shavings for the wood stove and the knife goes a month plus without needing to be sharpened. The practical versus the armchair critiques it feels at times... Don't get me wrong I do appreciate the added edge stability of a higher yield strength that one experiences when the knife is 61-62 Rc but I only have seen its benefits in the field when butchering large mammals as I can butcher an elk or bear and not have an edge rolling dull on my knife when I am cold and just want to get the job done and not worry about sharpening a knife.
For many years I used exclusively Cruwear with a high temp ht which came out at 60 Rc. I experienced zero issues until one late fall I was 6 miles from the truck deep in the Salish Mountains and I harvested a large black bear that come to find out was actually starting to feed on what I assume was grizzly killed deer. It was in the low 30s and blowing with snow so a little cold and a little terrifying at the same time with the buried kill sitting right there. After an hour or so of butchering I realized my knife was getting dull as I was getting sloppy, this led to me wanting to try higher edge wear steels and it took years for me to realize I did not need more carbides but more yield strength to resist dulling from bone contact.
I did not buy the 1v for butchering knives, I have Magnacut at 63 Rc for that task, but for all around woods bumming knives where the knife is used most for wood carving chores and food prep. I truly feel 1v at 60 Rc would be perfectly fine for these tasks and still be superior to low alloys. Looking back through the data 61 Rc seems like a good goal for 1v.
Here once again are the hardest coupons with the stock steel.
I then used a temper anneal which involved wrapping the coupons in foil and heating to 1640° for one hour, air cooled until i could hold them in my hand, and then 1400° for 24 hours. That was basically a day and half of having the oven running which is not good on the electrical bill.
I then heat treated the coupons yesterday at the same given range of temps and times as I previously did but I also added a 1950 austenitizing as Crucible says that 1950 is best for impact applications in their data sheet.
When I first tested the coupons last night they were in the 50s for hardness which pointed to deeper decarb than I realized so I surface ground them thinner and retested and here are the results.
Definitely a little improvement for hardness but I question if the extra effort is worth the results. I know we are now is a knife snobbery time where many feel if the knife is not above 60 Rc it is inferior crap. But I also know that I have been using a 59 Rc wood cleaver most of the winter to make daily shavings for the wood stove and the knife goes a month plus without needing to be sharpened. The practical versus the armchair critiques it feels at times... Don't get me wrong I do appreciate the added edge stability of a higher yield strength that one experiences when the knife is 61-62 Rc but I only have seen its benefits in the field when butchering large mammals as I can butcher an elk or bear and not have an edge rolling dull on my knife when I am cold and just want to get the job done and not worry about sharpening a knife.
For many years I used exclusively Cruwear with a high temp ht which came out at 60 Rc. I experienced zero issues until one late fall I was 6 miles from the truck deep in the Salish Mountains and I harvested a large black bear that come to find out was actually starting to feed on what I assume was grizzly killed deer. It was in the low 30s and blowing with snow so a little cold and a little terrifying at the same time with the buried kill sitting right there. After an hour or so of butchering I realized my knife was getting dull as I was getting sloppy, this led to me wanting to try higher edge wear steels and it took years for me to realize I did not need more carbides but more yield strength to resist dulling from bone contact.
I did not buy the 1v for butchering knives, I have Magnacut at 63 Rc for that task, but for all around woods bumming knives where the knife is used most for wood carving chores and food prep. I truly feel 1v at 60 Rc would be perfectly fine for these tasks and still be superior to low alloys. Looking back through the data 61 Rc seems like a good goal for 1v.
What we need vs what we think we need.
like anything; squeezing the last 5% of the juice takes exponentially more effort than the previous 95%. For some applications that last 5% means the difference between success and failure, but for all but the most extreme circumstances, it is frivolous.
I think if we were more honest about the way we actually use our knives and our skill level in doing so, we would be happier for way less money.
like anything; squeezing the last 5% of the juice takes exponentially more effort than the previous 95%. For some applications that last 5% means the difference between success and failure, but for all but the most extreme circumstances, it is frivolous.
I think if we were more honest about the way we actually use our knives and our skill level in doing so, we would be happier for way less money.
I for one would be perfectly happy with 1V at 60. I know @Grousehunterdan has plenty of real world use at I believe 59 and I have not heard him say a single bad thing about it.
I don’t think most people who buy your knives @A Seedy Lot are using them to cut cardboard all day.
I don’t think most people who buy your knives @A Seedy Lot are using them to cut cardboard all day.
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J. Beavers
Cypress Creek Knives
Some awesome testing done there Scott! Looks to me like the 2000/300 20 min recipe is pretty ideal. I don't think the temper anneal is worth the effort, espescially when you only gain 1 pioint of hardness. Seems like a lot of wasted time and electricity for marginal improvement. I'm betting there isn't any noticable difference in use, and as you say 60 - 61 Rc will likely be a great balance
I feel like 60-61 is plenty good enough for 1v, I don't know that much about it but I think its composition paired with this heat treat will produce a knife that's more than capable.
Your willingness to experiment is valuable and appreciated!
Your willingness to experiment is valuable and appreciated!
A Seedy Lot
Bushmaster
Glued up more handles today. I go about this a little differently since I use mechanical fastners. With epoxy there is a minimal glue thickness for the strongest bond so you don't want to over clamp. Well with mechanical fastners I am not overly concerned about ideal glue bo
nd so I squeeze the scales tight in the vise and screw down the bolts as tight as I can.
Cleaning all the glue off in front of the scales sure makes life easier. I use a bunch of qtips and a solvent for this. Lately my preferred solvent has been grain alcohol, it does not smell as bad a denatured alcohol.
Also clean out tubing is easier when the glue has not set up.
nd so I squeeze the scales tight in the vise and screw down the bolts as tight as I can.
Cleaning all the glue off in front of the scales sure makes life easier. I use a bunch of qtips and a solvent for this. Lately my preferred solvent has been grain alcohol, it does not smell as bad a denatured alcohol.
Also clean out tubing is easier when the glue has not set up.
A Seedy Lot
Bushmaster
Last full day of my hobbyist membership and I don't know when I will renew it again. Spring is here and I am quickly moving into knife shop burnout. It has beem a productive and enjoyable month but it is time to move onto spring chores.
You have accomplished a ton in this sprint!
We shall all meet again in the fall (after hunting season of course).
A Seedy Lot
Bushmaster
Some great info on 1V testing @A Seedy Lot . I run mine at 60rc with good results. Haven't used it much in awhile.
Lance Schultz
Guide
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The one off. Is that similar pattern to the bushbull? Or different?
I miss the content you provided last year and previous years @A Seedy Lot
