Scott I am guessing you mean edge thickness before heat treat. I usually go to about 0.20 for a smaller knife and 0.25 for a larger one. I may go thicker for a blade with hamon, say 0.30. This is just my method, others may do different. I want to leave enough meat there for slight adjustments and taking care of decarburization if there is any.

Brion

Yes blade thickness thank you. I'm new and ground my first blades today got a little thin and was unsure if they would make it through the heat treat ok

You have helped me thank you . Sincerly, Scott gallagher

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Scott I am guessing you mean edge thickness before heat treat. I usually go to about 0.20 for a smaller knife and 0.25 for a larger one. I may go thicker for a blade with hamon, say 0.30. This is just my method, others may do different. I want to leave enough meat there for slight adjustments and taking care of decarburization if there is any.

Brion

And then afterwards it's just directly to sharpening stones or a closer grind on fine belts?

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Scott I am guessing you mean edge thickness before heat treat. I usually go to about 0.20 for a smaller knife and 0.25 for a larger one. I may go thicker for a blade with hamon, say 0.30. This is just my method, others may do different. I want to leave enough meat there for slight adjustments and taking care of decarburization if there is any.

Brion

.20-.25 edges. Pretty beefy edges Brion. I know; its hot!

Mike

I think much of this is determined by your heat treating procedures and the equipment you use to do them, e.g. I go a little thicker with a blade I am heat treating in a forge than one I am doing in my salts, and this will also be affected by the skill and experience of the heat treater. Caleb's question caught my attention as well since I prefer not to have to go to the grinder after the heat treatment. My thickness measurements are similar to Brion's (.020 -.025 <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> ) but those would be the lines that the actual flat grind are taken to before I roll and feather the very slight convex onto the edge with the slack belt. By the time I am done there, I am ready for heat treatment and will have an edge that can go directly to the stone after the hand sanding is done, and I often will dull the edge a bit during hand finish for safety reasons. This procedure may not work so well with a forge atmosphere or could require a bit of skill to stay on top of in the same. Also, very thin edges will often ribbon for guys who are just getting a feel for it without the use of techniques like marquenching to even out the transformation effects at Ms (martensite start point- 400F-500F).

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I think much of this is determined by your heat treating procedures and the equipment you use to do them, e.g. I go a little thicker with a blade I am heat treating in a forge than one I am doing in my salts, and this will also be affected by the skill and experience of the heat treater. Caleb's question caught my attention as well since I prefer not to have to go to the grinder after the heat treatment. My thickness measurements are similar to Brion's (.020 -.025 <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//wink.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> ) but those would be the lines that the actual flat grind are taken to before I roll and feather the very slight convex onto the edge with the slack belt. By the time I am done there, I am ready for heat treatment and will have an edge that can go directly to the stone after the hand sanding is done, and I often will dull the edge a bit during hand finish for safety reasons. This procedure may not work so well with a forge atmosphere or could require a bit of skill to stay on top of in the same. Also, very thin edges will often ribbon for guys who are just getting a feel for it without the use of techniques like marquenching to even out the transformation effects at Ms (martensite start point- 400F-500F).

Thank for all your response. I have some 1084 0.187 thickness not forged but stock removed. I'm ready for heat treat do I send them out? Or do my own? I have a little johnie forge on the way so . Should I give this a try? Thank you. Sincerly, Scott gallagher

I say go for it! Nothing like getting that first piece of steel hardened all on your own. Makers like Mr. Cashen and many others, I'm sure, can give you great advice. You might look on the YouTube channel and search around there, too. With a little research, you can find examples of several people using their forges to bring their knives up to temp, then quenching.

Jeremy