Ed,

So far I have been able to avoid making one with a gut hook. I really don't like them but try not to let my opinion sway the matter. I have in the back of my mind a plan in the event I have to make one.

To answer your question, I would heat treat first, then grind carefully the hook.

Below is just an expression of my concern apart from my above answer. I am expressing this because I feel I am not the only one who will be thinking this.

My concern with a gut hook is that I am building a stress riser into the blade right where it gets the most stress. This fear may not be justified but it certainly is a concern when I go to make one. Testing will bear it out of course and that would be the way to look at it. A good thermo cycle with a tried and true steel, careful heat treat (which we would do anyway)would probably be fine.

One advantage we have as a trained bladesmith is that we can control the hardness of the different zones of the blade. That said, I would want the tip to be the same Rockwell as the rest of the blade. So, this issue may not be an issue for some but it is for me. Its probably mostly mental. I have been told that before you know. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

Ed,

I have made a couple of these in the past and this is how I did it. (I'll try and find a photo of one that was finished, but they were all more than a few years back....)

I roughed in the hook with a rat tail or chainsaw file pre-HT. Make sure you get it pitched back far enough toward the handle so the blade point doesn't dip into the belly of the game during use, that would negate the reason for a gut hook. I chose to use a chisel type edge design and only filed from one face of the blade. If your customer is right handed, chose the right side, and vice-versa. The bevel of the hook edge should face up when in use. After heat treat I finished the edge by taking sand paper around a steel rod and continued honing the edge. If you want to get aggressive, you can use a Dremel or other rotary tool with a stone. Dremel makes long skinny stones in various grits for sharpening chainsaw blades.

Thanks Lin & Joshua! I'll see what I can work out on paper, then make a tester... <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//biggrin.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />

OK, so this is what I ended up doing for those who are curious:

Before quenching the blade, I started the filing of the gut hook area but left about .030" web of steel as a safety during the quench. Then I used some Japanese technology to add toughness to the blade tip by applying clay to the blade so only the edge and the gut hook area hardened. Post tempering, I completed work on the gut hook and finished out the knife (I couldn't resist polishing out the double hamon). Here's a picture:

It looks great Ed!

This what I like to see. Intelligent, well thought out knife making. This was exactly what I had in mind, believe it or not, in the event I was to make a gut hook. Good use of the clay. I could see it in the hamon before I read your post. Textbook.

I think that came out wonderfully Ed. Very well done.

I don't know how you tested the gut hook for sharpness, but I used to use a piece of ~7 oz. oak tanned leather. If the hook cut through that easily, I called it sharp.

I keep going back to look at that blade! Man, I have to start doing some of that Hamon stuff........again, it looks great.

Thank you guys... I really appreciate the feedback <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//cool.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' /> Joshua, I tested for sharpness first with that brown heavy paper they use for packing shipments (I bunched it up as well as just slicing with it), and then I tried wooden skewer sticks! (I didn't have any scrap leather around) <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' />