Unpopular opinion: I think we overrate the importance of a perfect heat treat

I was at a hammer-in in Knoxville last month and heard someone say a blade is only as good as its heat treat. I get the basics are vital, but I've made dozens of good, usable knives where the temper color was a bit off or the soak time wasn't textbook. My daily carry skinner has a slight soft spot near the tip from an uneven quench three years ago, and it still works fine. I think we scare off new folks by acting like anything less than lab-perfect ruins a piece. Has anyone else made a solid tool that 'broke the rules' and held up?

3 comments

3 Comments

caseys303mo ago

Gotta ask, what's the actual failure rate on those "imperfect" knives? You mentioned the skinner with a soft spot. Has that spot rolled or chipped in three years of use, or is it just a theoretical weak point? I've seen guys at shows obsess over a tiny bit of decarb like it's a death sentence, but my old hunting buddy's knife has a wavy hamon from a messed up quench and it's still going after field dressing a dozen deer.

miles2773mo ago

That's a solid point about the wavy hamon knife still working. For the skinner, the soft spot hasn't chipped or rolled at all, it just needs a touch more sharpening in that one spot. Makes you wonder if most "flaws" are just cosmetic panic for collectors, while users barely notice. What's the ugliest, most messed-up knife you've seen that still does its job perfectly?

martin.vera2mo ago

Yeah, caseys30 brings up a good point about the actual failure rate. I've got a hunting knife a buddy made where the edge quench didn't take right on one side, so that edge is softer than the other. He's used it on three elk and a mess of deer, and that soft side just gets a little dull faster but never chips or rolls. Seems like we call things "failures" when they're really just less than perfect, but still work. A knife that needs a quick extra pass on the stone every now and then isn't a failed knife, it's just a knife with character.