Old knive blades

[JCW]

This may sound like a dumb question but..... I have seen several old, worn knives in here that have had handles etc. replaced and I suppose they will be used. Do you guys re-temper the blades since a lot of them look like they have been worn past the original hardening? I have several old, used blades that will not hold an edge but are easy to sharpen. All are carbon steel of one type or another. Jeff.

 

[rich pierce]

Most commerical blades are hardened and tempered uniformly so what you have is what it always was, when new, as far as hardness and temper, edge-holding etc. Old knives often had poor quality for holding an edge compared to what we expect now. That's why so many got worn out so badly. They always needed resharpening. So- short answer- nope, I do not reharden and re-temper. I have some old knives of shear steel and they are pretty crappy knives. Most of the blades you can buy from ML supply houses are poor also. Green River blades, etc take a lousy edge then lose it.

 

[JCW]

Thanks for the reply Rich. I have always used modern, commercial knifes for my activities. However I have bought older used blades from yard sales and pawn shops thinking they may be good for future projects. Having heard stories from a lot of people about hardining etc I had questions about edge quality and such. Thanks for clearing this up a bit. Jeff.

 

[rich pierce]

There is always the possibility that someone used a grinding wheel and ruined the temper on a blade. But I have a dozen or so old knives that are universally poor at holding an edge compared to newer knives of specialty steels.

 

[whiskey]

If you are referring to butcher type blades, they will not hold an edge mainly because they are not designed to. A chef or cook wants a knife that will sharpen quickly, thats why you see them frequently using their sharpening steels. Green river knives fall into this catogory.

 

[JCW]

I picked up a Green River sheep skinner blade some time ago. I have not put it to the test yet. I have some beef in the cooler that needs to be cut up, wrapped, Will do that on Sunday and test out knife. For hunting I'll still use my Buck and old Schrade.

 

[JCW]

I own two original WW-II Ka-Bar's. One holds a good edge and isn't to hard to keep sharp. The other needs touching up often but takes a keen edge. I suspect that the second knife is made of 1095 but don't know what first one is made out of