Does my knife have an imperfect heat treatment?
- Thread starter Wook
- Start date
Phone the maker up, talk to them. As a long time user if the wright and sons bushcrafter i dont rate them at all! You are right, they do not hold an edge and sharpen poorly.
I tried emailing the manufacturer _mark_, they ignored my emails so I took to dealing through Heinnie from whom I bought it.
They at least reply.
They at least reply.
Hmmm Heinnie emailed back and are now saying 54-56. Apparently saying 44-46 was a mistake.....
They apparently had sent the knife back to Arthur Wright for inspection and they were the ones who did the hardness testing. Supposedly they had told Heinnie the wrong number.
How do you confuse 40 with 50? Especially on something where the difference is important?
I'm not 100% convinced.
I'll bet my local tool and gear guy will have a Rockwell testing rig. I wonder if he'd run my knife through it for a nominal fee?
They apparently had sent the knife back to Arthur Wright for inspection and they were the ones who did the hardness testing. Supposedly they had told Heinnie the wrong number.
How do you confuse 40 with 50? Especially on something where the difference is important?
I'm not 100% convinced.
I'll bet my local tool and gear guy will have a Rockwell testing rig. I wonder if he'd run my knife through it for a nominal fee?
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Perrari
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I Smell Fish ? I wouldnt be convinced either! If you can get it tested locally that would be great news for you. It will take around 10 seconds to have it tested. Keep us posted.
robin wood
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Well as I said in post 3 most Sheffield knives are soft, you can cut them with a file, doesn't stop them working. I recently built a large oak boat with bronze tools which were lower than 40 rockwell. If it's not what you wanted most respectable retailers would prefer to take it back than have you winging in public without you having to prove anything. If you don't want it ask them if they will take it back. If you do want it then keep it and learn how to get the best out of it.
I think even untempered ( in its annealed state) 01 is harder than 44RC. Might be wrong, be 44 is very very low.
I sent mine back to a wright for a resharpen because i couldnt get the edge to hold, they charged me, given the kife was 2 weeks old i thought it a bit unresonable. They were pretty snide about the whole affair. Not their biggest fan. I believe someone on here reground the bevel with much success.
this has been baffling me since i first read it, i just don't understand how an orange could blunt a knife that quickly, incorrect heat treatment or not, so i did a little experiment.
i took a piece of mild steel, ground an edge on it (a basic chisel grind), gave it a quick pass through a few grades of wet'n'dry and finished with autosol on leather. that gave me a very soft edge that i could just about shave with. lacking oranges i decided to peel a few potatoes instead. i did enough for tea and then stopped (any more would've been a waste of good taters and that's criminal!). i could still shave with the "knife" that i'd made. to be perfectly honest the potato peeling had no noticeable effect on the sharpness of the edge at all. i'm confused
are oranges way tougher than potatoes?
am i actually a knife making genius without realising it?
or
were you cutting down on to a marble/glass chopping board when you were cutting up your oranges?
that's me out of guesses
cheers
stuart
shaggystu, nope wooden chopping board.
Although HooDoo suggested I was getting a fine wire edge on the blade which was snapping off under use and he may have been right.
Although HooDoo suggested I was getting a fine wire edge on the blade which was snapping off under use and he may have been right.
Sell it. There will be other Father's Days. Nothing worse to my mind than a knife that won't take a good edge. I've had a few Sheffield knives with that problem.
The worst was an Ibberson British army knife, wasn't worth a damn, struggled to cut string. I had an Ablett that I thought took a poor edge. I've a
J. Nowill butchers knife that blunts just looking at it that I shall probably give away. Now not all Sheffield knives are bad, I've some I'm more than pleased with,
so don't think I'm bashing all Sheffield knives. I believe it's quite possible to get a good and a bad knife from the same maker, I've had this with other brands.
I've done the 'Is it my sharpening?' thing and I honestly don't think it is. 99% of my knives are very sharp thank you very much
If Arthur Wright can't be bothered to reply they don't deserve your custom, and they won't be getting any from me. I hope you give them a bad review on HH
Like I said...I'd sell it ( Perhaps to someone here who thinks they can get an edge on it otherwise it will just annoy you every time you use it, put the money into a better knife and you'll be much happier.
The worst was an Ibberson British army knife, wasn't worth a damn, struggled to cut string. I had an Ablett that I thought took a poor edge. I've a
J. Nowill butchers knife that blunts just looking at it that I shall probably give away. Now not all Sheffield knives are bad, I've some I'm more than pleased with,
so don't think I'm bashing all Sheffield knives. I believe it's quite possible to get a good and a bad knife from the same maker, I've had this with other brands.
I've done the 'Is it my sharpening?' thing and I honestly don't think it is. 99% of my knives are very sharp thank you very much
If Arthur Wright can't be bothered to reply they don't deserve your custom, and they won't be getting any from me. I hope you give them a bad review on HH
Like I said...I'd sell it ( Perhaps to someone here who thinks they can get an edge on it
otherwise it will just annoy you every time you use it, put the money into a better knife and you'll be much happier.
I think some of these makers rely on the "sheffield" bit to peddle their wares. It seems that more and more there are complaints about the products they sell. Or perhaps, we as bushcrafters have come to expect more in a knife.
The scout knife my father bought me as a child was made in Sheffield - it is one of my all time favourite knifes. Beautiful piece of craftsmanship and an excellent carbon steel blade that takes and holds a brilliant edge. Actually it is partly responsible for me wanting a Sheffield made pocket knife. Notions of "Made in Britain with pride" and so on. What's more it takes whatever I throw at it. One day I'll decide to try and convex it - it takes and holds a convexed edge without complaint. Then I'll wonder if that was a mistake and I'll put a single bevel on it. Likewise, it will take and hold an edge.
Whereas this knife has me asking all sorts of questions like "have I ruined it by changing the grind?" and so on, and I'm not used to asking these sorts of questions. My 30 year old Solingen bowie will take any edge I care to put on it, as long as it comes to a point. Yes some grinds are better than others, but the blade doesn't suddenly turn to putty just because the angle changes. Likewise with my SAKs, Opinels, Moras. I can and do experiment with different sharpening techniques and they don't bite my head off for it.
I'm starting to wonder if the knife industry in Sheffield has changed a lot in the 25 years or so since my scout knife was made.
Whereas this knife has me asking all sorts of questions like "have I ruined it by changing the grind?" and so on, and I'm not used to asking these sorts of questions. My 30 year old Solingen bowie will take any edge I care to put on it, as long as it comes to a point. Yes some grinds are better than others, but the blade doesn't suddenly turn to putty just because the angle changes. Likewise with my SAKs, Opinels, Moras. I can and do experiment with different sharpening techniques and they don't bite my head off for it.
I'm starting to wonder if the knife industry in Sheffield has changed a lot in the 25 years or so since my scout knife was made.
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Just read some of the reviews for Arthur Wright on HH and they are a mixed bag, but some are happy with the sharpness of their blades, so it looks just as I've found, that you can get good and bad blades from the same maker. What isn't excusable is that they don't sort it if there is a problem.
If you gave me an a wright knife we would no longer be friends, I have only seen five different examples and each one was terrible, un even grinds, bevels so acute the edge just rolled with simple carving, mismatched handle scales. Horrid workmanship. I am only a user but I would never buy one of There's.
Sell it. There will be other Father's Days. Nothing worse to my mind than a knife that won't take a good edge. I've had a few Sheffield knives with that problem.
The worst was an Ibberson British army knife, wasn't worth a damn, struggled to cut string. I had an Ablett that I thought took a poor edge. I've a
J. Nowill butchers knife that blunts just looking at it that I shall probably give away. Now not all Sheffield knives are bad, I've some I'm more than pleased with,
so don't think I'm bashing all Sheffield knives. I believe it's quite possible to get a good and a bad knife from the same maker, I've had this with other brands.
I've done the 'Is it my sharpening?' thing and I honestly don't think it is. 99% of my knives are very sharp thank you very much
If Arthur Wright can't be bothered to reply they don't deserve your custom, and they won't be getting any from me. I hope you give them a bad review on HH
Like I said...I'd sell it ( Perhaps to someone here who thinks they can get an edge on it
Sell it? "anyone want to buy a knife with a a bad heat treat?"
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The thing that has left me gutted about the whole affair is that £50 is a lot of money to put down on a knife, at least for me. It was meant to be special. All my life I had dreamed of owning a true gentleman's pocket knife. My wife and kids knew this and asked me to pick out one I liked.
Beautiful craftsmanship with a simple, reliable carbon steel blade, made in Britain. That's all I wanted. I nearly went for a Taylor's Eye Witness, but the A Wright looked just as good on the webpage and was £30 cheaper.
Now I'm starting to wish I'd chosen differently, or put the money down on an uglier but much more functional UKPK.
Beautiful craftsmanship with a simple, reliable carbon steel blade, made in Britain. That's all I wanted. I nearly went for a Taylor's Eye Witness, but the A Wright looked just as good on the webpage and was £30 cheaper.
Now I'm starting to wish I'd chosen differently, or put the money down on an uglier but much more functional UKPK.
Perrari
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
If you test a piece Mark you find it is really low about 8 Hrc if I remember correctly. I tested a piece once just out of curiosity.
What was, was. What is, is. Sheffield is no longer the steel superpower it once was. Its a shame as it had a well deserved reputation. There are still some top makers there, no doubt about it.
I get my 01 from sheffield and the quality is very good, no complaints. I have an A. Wright and son bushy here, its built well enough, but the grind shames them. Without a proper grind its naught but a lump of metal and wood and only good for scaring joe public.
I get my 01 from sheffield and the quality is very good, no complaints. I have an A. Wright and son bushy here, its built well enough, but the grind shames them. Without a proper grind its naught but a lump of metal and wood and only good for scaring joe public.
Taylors Eye Witness have vastly improved their quality in the last few years. I gave one to Ben98 as his runner up prize in the U16s competition. The fit and finish was excellent, the grind was perfect, steel good and razor sharp and it cost less than £20. Wrights do have a poor rep but I would still keep and use it for sentimental reasons if nothing else.
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