Parlour Tricks

I test every blade I make. Some get a bit more rigorous testing than others. Like the knife pictured here. This is a simple mono steel, 80crv2. The process involves controlling the steel's temperature to such an extent that the impossible seems possible.
If you can imagine inside the blade are tiny iron boxes stacked end to end and on top of one another and Inside those boxes is carbon and what other elements that have been thrown into the mixture to make up the steel.
When the steel is heated, in this case to 1525*F/830*C, the carbon and other stuff is thrown out of the iron boxes and is then "floating" around in the metal. By repeatedly heating to very specific temperatures and then cooling the blade the boxes begin to form a memory of how to orient themselves and what size to take on. Therefore the steel needs to be heated and cool at least three times but each time the temperature should be lower. Thus decreasing the size of the boxes and strengthening the blade.
When the steel is hardened during the quenching process we want that carbon and other stuff to get back inside the steel as fast as possible, this makes the steel hard, like glass and is done by submerging it in a specially designed quenching oil to remove the heat as fast as possible. After this step the blade is placed back in a heated oven with a temperature of 325*F for two hours. This transforms the steel from its brittle glass like composition to something that becomes a usable cutting tool.
After grinding, shaping, and putting a sharpened edge on the blade I test the blade. Usually by hacking moose antler and every now and then I test a blade by hammering it into steel, just like in the photo. Every blade that leaves my shop is tested to ensure quality and a tool that will stand up to anything you can throw at it!