Opinions about a knife that went through a fire.

[TheLawson]

The knife in question is a Zwilling Pro 8" Chiefs knife: http://zwillingonline.com/38401203.html

It was involved in a house fire, I love this knife and I want to know if it's going to hold it's edge before I make a handle for it. I've included pictures before/after cleanup for your consideration. I know some of you make knives so I figured I could get some solid advice on what to do here.

Thanks everyone.

 

[deuxlatch]

That's a J.A. Hinckels knife. High quality. You should be good to go. Be sure to post pics of the new handle. Also you may be able to send it off to Hinckels to get a new handle put on it.

 

[JadeRaven]

Now that it's heat treated you can send it for cryo-treatment as well.

 

[cricht0n]

I have an affinity for my first knife as well, it is the knife I grab over my 5 other chef's knives just about every time. The problem that you are going to have after after a fire hot enough to melt the resin handle is the blade retaining its edge. It will probably be really easy to sharpen, but it will also lose that edge very quickly. I say go for it. At the very least you will have a unique knife to hang on a magnetic rack in the kitchen.

 

[SVTFreak]

If it got hot enough, it will have damage the heat treat. Only way to tell is to try it. Or you can send it off for re-heat treat to get it right again, but you risk warpage now that edge is sharpened.

Disclaimed: this is what I understand from reading other (knife maker area of) forums. Not guaranteed to be correct.

 

[TheLawson]

It looked to me like the block protected the front 3/4 or so of the blade. If you look in the first few pics you can see that the tang and base of the blade looks bad, but the rest of the blade looks like it's in good shape. I was thinking the portion of the blade that doesn't 'look' heat damaged would still hold an edge.

As a test I sharpened it and cut a few cardboard boxes into ribbons (the thick brown shipping ones) - 1" strips with the lid folded over all the way down to the bottom of the box, all the way around. After the third box I resharpened it... It was a little easier, but it didn't seem like the knife got drastically less sharp. I think I'm just going to finish cleaning it up and make a wooden handle for it, if it doesn't stay sharp, then like Cricht0n said, I'll just have a cool knife with a story.

 

[cbr900son]

Depends on temps it saw and time. If it is stainless you would need 2000+ degrees for 15-60 mins to anneal (aka soften it). If its carbon you probably only need 1500 ish for 5-10 mins. Do you think it saw these temps?

 

[Unspecified]

Worth the effort either way!!

 

[Hitman]

Just please don't ask us to replace it for you ..........

 

[Magdump]

Just please don't ask us to replace it for you ..........

Hahaha! What ever happened to ol' Glock boy anyway?

As for the knife, I doubt if reached the temps that would have fooled with the temper. It would have burned off the etching if it had. Looks like only the handle burned off.

 

[Hitman]

Hahaha! What ever happened to ol' Glock boy anyway?

As for the knife, I doubt if reached the temps that would have fooled with the temper. It would have burned off the etching if it had. Looks like only the handle burned off.

Run out of here. Last Active; May 2nd, 2012 07:27 PM

Probably created another account under different name.