Two Questions: brazing & heat treating

[cbct]

I've just read about the process of brazing metal, and wondered if anyone has tried it to put a hidden tang on a blade? If it works, it seems like it might be a very helpful process for making hidden tang pattern-welded knives, or just to save time grinding down stock. I'd appreciate any info.

Second question: What happens if you heat treat stainless stock like ATS-34 as though it were simple high carbon steel (that is to say, just heat it to 1,500 degrees or so, oil quench it, and temper it back at 400 degrees a couple of times?

Will it hold an edge?

Will it become stain resistant?

I know it would be wasteful to do it on purpose, but I'm curious what the result would be. If no one has done something so silly, then I'll try it and you know. All in the interest of science.

Thanks,

Kevin

[Steierknives]

Brazing should work on a hidden tang. I just mill an open ended slot in a bolt, slide the back of the knife into the slot and pin the bolt and blade together.

I wouldn't expect very good results if you were just heating ATS to 1500 degrees. It needs to be taken up to 1900 or so for the best results.

[cbct]

Thanks for the information! I'll try the brazing with a bolt. That really makes sense. I'd like to try some damascus, but I just couldn't put $150 worth of good damascus into a hidden tang!

Thanks again,

Kevin