My second knife (got some questions)

[Rock Crusher]

This is my second attempt at making a knife from a file. My pictures are rather poor quality but you can get an idea what it looks like. I'm happy with the way it turned out. The handle is some tiger maple my buddy found when he was splitting wood. My question has to do with hardening. I just ground this cold so I never heated it or tempered it or anything. Do I need to do any of that if I don't mess with the original temper. I thought files were fairly hard to start with. Like around 60 Rockwell hardness or so. Your thoughts and opinions are welcome.

 

[kansas stik man]

the knife looks great.... i too just completed my second knife.  both of mine were from a file.  the process i used was to anneal, shape sand and then reharden by taking to critical temp then quench. after its hard again it will be VERY brittle untill you temper it now i have tempered mine to 475* some of the more experianced guys will be able to

[kansas stik man]

sorry hit a wrong key , anyways............ they will be able to give more advice about the quench and tempering.  but as far as whether or not to soften the file first i do because the work is so much easier and it wont destroy your good files and eat sand paper like crazy.  but keep up the good work, that maple is eye popping and id like to see the sheath when you get it done to.

[KHALVERSON]

looks real nice
did you anneal your tang to drill for pins
or drill with carbide

[Lin Rhea]

RC,
     When you say you ground it cold, do you mean you never got the blade hot in the grinding process?

A file is pretty hard in its normal state. I would say close to 68-70 rockwell. Much too hard for a durable knife. It would chip and the tip would break at the first sign of stress.  If, by chance, you can grind it without messing up the temper, it should be drawn back to around 58-59 rockwell before putting the handle on. This is just my opinion. Lin

[razorback]

RC,
Check the second line of Lin's signature, his is a humble opinion that we all should listen to. I love the lines of that knife and the handle, very cool for your second knife.

Lin
What is the process for drawing it back to 58-59 rockwell. This is something I would like to be able to do as well.

[Rock Crusher]

I drilled the holes with a carbide bit and never got the blade hot when I was gringing it

[OconeeDan]

Rock Crusher, you have a nice piece of wood on that handle!
Just a suggestion...your knife, as Lin said, will be a bit too brittle for hard field use.  You will likely find yourself grinding out chips in the blade.
You can not temper with the nice wood handle on it.  So my suggestion, is to limit it's use to slicing steaks and similar chores.  And make another knife, with proper temper, for field use.
For what it's worth, I too, made my first knife from a file, without tempering.  I have field dressed many deer, cut many patches with it.  It has never chipped.  And when it does, it'll be "expected.  When sharpening, it feels like I am dragging a piece of glass over the stone!
So your time was not wasted.
Dan