If you would like to try some CPM-3V...

[Dale Sautter]

The mailman just dropped off a nice little package... see pic.

Since all this talk about CPM-3V has made me pretty curious to check it out... I found a supplier for at least some small blade stock if anyone is interested:

http://www.alphaknifesupply.com/bladesteel.htm#BS-CPM3V

The two that came in the mail are/were what they had in stock atm:
.168"x 9.5" x 1.3" and .216" x 7.1 x "1.7"

There is a $25 minimum order so I ordered one for $12, and the other for $15. The smaller bar looks like it would make a couple #1-#2 wood smoothers.?!

Anyway, just wanted to pass a link along in case anyone was as curious as me about this stuff... already ordered some diamond powder and spray. Hopefully shape these this weekend and send them off for heat treat next week...

[David Weaver]

Wow...pretty rough heat treat process on those!

Not a bad price, though. Mind if I ask where you send your stuff to get heat treat, and how well you've been satisfied? I have some S7 that I'd like to turn into floats, but I got it before I knew that the heat treat process was out of range for the home hobbyist.

[John Payne01]

Midsouth Metallurgy in Tennessee was recommended to me by Crucible and several knife makers. They work with all the CPM steels.

John

[David Weaver]

Thanks, John. How do you find the stuff to work when it's annealed? Is it agreeable?

[John Payne01]

It's pretty typical for tool steel, grinds about like D2. Be careful if you use a chop saw or angle grinder to cut it. You can work harden that edge and then it's not fun at all. Once you've had it heat treated about the only thing you can use on it are ceramic belts.

John

[Dale Sautter]

Not a bad price, though. Mind if I ask where you send your stuff to get heat treat, and how well you've been satisfied?

I asked AKS where to go for heat treat when I purchased the bars from them, they said Paul Bos Heat Treating (http://www.buckknives.com/index.cfm?event=bio.paulBos#). I hope to talk to them today... haven't yet.



Midsouth Metallurgy in Tennessee


Thanks for the info John, was curious where you went. And thanks for making your chisels available to us mere humans... :), they really sound/look fantastic! Figured I would order chisels from you in the future at some point... maybe after the floodgates have waned a tad. Do you have a website?

[John Payne01]

Paul Bos is top notch, does a lot for knife companies and custom makers. If you have them cyrogenically treated too plan on spending about $90.

No website yet, this happened far faster than I expected. Still have several steels to test.

John

[george wilson]

I see the hardening process,at least for 52100,which is ball bearing steel which I have used,does not mention that the hardening must be done in an oxygen free or inert gas furnace. I used stainless foil wrap. Some of these steels may exceed the temperatures of foil wrap protection. Failure to protect the steel WILL result in a soft skin on your metal which will be about 1/32" thick. A2 and D2,which I have used a lot,also require inert gas furnaces,or foil wrap. FOIL WRAP can fail if ANY leak is in the wrap,or the wrap CAN BURST OPEN,ruining the steel.

01 does not require foil wrap,nor does 1095.

I suggest that you do use the services of a professional hardener,or you may ruin your steel.

[Dale Sautter]

Figured they would need cyro from his recipe, but what about triple tempering?

[John Payne01]

I think that's pretty much standard for 3V.

John

[george wilson]

Tempering procedure is not mentioned that I saw(from a quick perusal). However,the necessary thing to do is to temper AS SOON as the metal has cooled just enough to hold it in your hand,or about 130 degrees F.. Failure to do this results in less perfect durability in the steel. We therefore kept TWO furnaces in the toolmaker's shop. One was for hardening,and one for tempering.

You cannot get by with one furnace,because it takes a LONG time for the hardening furnace to cool. I have used a common kitchen TOASTER OVEN for immediate tempering. However,you must know what you are doing. Insert a long shaft high temperature thermometer into an opening in the toaster oven. DO NOT EVER rely upon the built in thermometer in the oven. Brownell's Gunsmithing supplies sells these thermometers. Pre heat this toaster oven to the required temperature and keep it there while hardening your steel. It must be ready for immediate use.

A TOASTER OVEN is not good for tempering temperatures over 500 degrees F.. Some of these metals temper at 1000 degrees. In that case,you need 2 high temperature furnaces.


READ THIS: THERE IS ONLY ABOUT A 25 DEGREE WINDOW FOR PERFECT HARDENING AND TEMPERING,OR YOUR STEEL WILL NOT BE PROPERLY TREATED,AND YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR TIME AND MONEY. Send it to a professional heat treater.

[Dale Sautter]

Thanks, figuring it out as I go...

[Dale Sautter]

READ THIS: THERE IS ONLY ABOUT A 25 DEGREE WINDOW FOR PERFECT HARDENING AND TEMPERING,OR YOUR STEEL WILL NOT BE PROPERLY TREATED,AND YOU WILL BE WASTING YOUR TIME AND MONEY. Send it to a professional heat treater.

Very good advice from everything I've read so far about this stuff George. There is no way I would attempt this myself, and no shame in admitting it. In addition to all that it'll take to make something out of 3V and using diamonds to hone/maintain them, rust is a concern too. I've read that when this stuff rusts, it pits very deeply, so extra diligence will be in order. After everything is said and done, and if all works as well a we all expect, we'll be rewarded with a very tough keen edge that stays that way... for a long time.