Tempering temperatures used by Spyderco?

[horzuff]

Recently I've been on a modding streak with my Spydies. I've also come to appreciate the shiny-type DLC. As Spyderco doesn't offer such a finish I've been looking into getting some of my blades custom DLC coated. However DLC coatings are applied at a minimum of 180*C from what I've found and that might impact the heat treatment if the blade was tempered in lower temps (as Larrin usually recommends).

And this is where my question comes - is it possible to get information regarding tempering temperatures for steels Spyderco uses? I don't want the full heat treatment protocol, I understand it's a trade secret, so absolutely not asking about austenizing temp, whether cryo is used or number of tempering cycles or any other processes the blades undergo. The only thing I'm interested in is the tempering temperature. @sal is that something You would be willing to provide?

Currently I'm interested in the following steels/models/origins, though the list might grow longer:

Golden 15V (Military 2 and PM2 LW)
Golden S90V, SPY27 (Bodacious)
Taichung S30V, S90V (Kapara)
Taichung CruWear (Bradley Folder 2)
China S35VN (Resilience)

[zhyla]

Tempering temperatures depend on the steel, desired hardness, and secondarily the austenizing temperature/cycle (see charts here as an example).

If you're just trying to make sure you don't blow the temper on a blade when applying DLC, you can google the tempering ranges yourself. For instance, it looks like 15V would be tempered at 300F - 500F depending on target hardness.

[horzuff]

I know all that, I even wrote it in my post. Unfortunately basically every steel can be tempered below 200*C (400F) and some are even recommended to be tempered in those temps (both Magnas for example).

That's why I'm asking about exact tempering temperatures used. That way if, say, the tempering temps are within 10-20*C of the DLC application temp I won't worry too much about affecting the heat treat

[yablanowitz]

Assume that what you want to do will ruin your knife, then do it anyway. Whether it succeeds or fails is on you, regardless. If it doesn't ruin the heat treat, hooray. If it does, too bad, you'll know better next time.

[Larrin]

It’s unlikely that they will share those publicly

[Wowbagger]

Assume that what you want to do will ruin your knife, then do it anyway. Whether it succeeds or fails is on you, regardless. If it doesn't ruin the heat treat, hooray. If it does, too bad, you'll know better next time.

Sounds like an expensive risk .

Unfortunately basically every steel can be tempered below 200*C (400F)

Reminds me of a story I read about Japanese , hand made , high end, woodworking plane blades (see image below) .
The story goes that once the dudes (Shikonin / Master woodworker) used a new plane blade if it tended to chip they experimented with sharpening bevel angles and if it still chipped they would pick a particularly hot day and put the blade on the roof (often a metal roof) and some times after that the blade would be a touch less hard .

The Japanese hand plane is a masterpiece of simplicity AND precision (read up on how the bottom of the plane sole is "shaped and tuned" . It is not flat but it looks flat .
A few taps of that mallet can advance or retract the edge predictably to < a thousandth of an inch .

Along with the plane adjusting mallet I made from hickory for the handle and Lignum Vitae for the head ; no wedge to hold the head on . I used the Windsor chair technique . . . bake the handle ultra dry , inside of head is tapered , install handle in head , apply a bit of moisture and while damp I "peened" the protruding fibers to a mushroom . The handle swells , mostly from ambient humidity , and when in balance again it fits the head perfectly and VERY tightly . The other part of that is the other component of the joint , that would be the head in this case would be wet / undried wood . This Lignum Vitae is so hard and dense AND naturally OILY that it won't absorb much water once dry . ((fun fact ; it is so dense it will sink to the bottom of a bath tub and lay there / won't float)) .

Windsor chairs last 300 years without getting rickety with no glue or fasteners . Little known fact .

[yablanowitz]

Assume that what you want to do will ruin your knife, then do it anyway. Whether it succeeds or fails is on you, regardless. If it doesn't ruin the heat treat, hooray. If it does, too bad, you'll know better next time.

Sounds like an expensive risk .

It's a knife, not a car.

[sal]

It’s unlikely that they will share those publicly

Thank you Larrin.

We've always paid attention to that with our heat treatment. I believe Spyderco was one of the first companies to use DLC, back in the 80's, and we learned quite bit. Not every one dong heat treat or working with DLC is aware of that.

sal

[horzuff]

Well, it was worth an ask, I understand, thanks for chiming in at all :)

[Wowbagger]

Assume that what you want to do will ruin your knife, then do it anyway. Whether it succeeds or fails is on you, regardless. If it doesn't ruin the heat treat, hooray. If it does, too bad, you'll know better next time.

Sounds like an expensive risk .

It's a knife, not a car.

Hey Yab.
Can I borrow some money off ya ?

[yablanowitz]

Let me put it another way. If you can't afford to ruin it, don't mess with it.

[horzuff]

Let me put it another way. If you can't afford to ruin it, don't mess with it.

So if You want to modify/fix anything You don't do any research just go into it and bear the consequences? I mean, You could, but why screw Yourself in the backend thoughtlessly?

Instead You can ask/check first and make a more informed decision afterwards instead of YOLOing it, just because "I can afford to ruin it". Being able to afford something isn't equal with burning cash if it can be avoided being a good idea.

[silver & black]

Windsor chairs last 300 years without getting rickety with no glue or fasteners . Little known fact .

I'm sure quite a few have lasted that long but, by the numbers of Windsor chairs I repair on a yearly basis, I'd say there are an equal number of them that don't.