The 3rd International Conference on Engineering, Technology, and Industrial Application

ICETIA2016
Surakarta, Indonesia, 7-8 December 2016

Effect of Materials and Surface Hardening on Hardnees of Manually Forged Knife

Balkhaya*1, Suwarno1
Mechanical Engineering Department, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember Surabaya
(ITS), Surabaya 60111, Indonesia,
(E-mail: balwakdrag@gmail.com)

ABSTRACT
There are many kinds of cutting devices in machinery and food processing equipment. The
quality of the cutting component depends on the material characteristics and its production
method. A cutting device has the same function with a knife. They have the sharpness on the
cutting side and though on the core. The manufacturing process of blades from steel bar,
ingot, or plate is typically done by forging. Traditionally, a blacksmith uses manual forging
to make a knife. Commonly knives produced by traditional blacksmiths have poor quality,
i.e. soft and blunt. There are two common methods to make the traditional blade, i.e.
pattern welding and Damascus method. The pattern welding process consists of forge two
dissimilar steels to have a combined properties of the blade. While the Damascus method
forges a single bar of steel with engineered composition. Theoretically knifes quality which
produced by blacksmith can be improved with right material choice, good manufacturing
process, and perfect finishing process. In this work, we study the traditional forging method
done by a local blacksmith to make a knife from the various composition of the steel. Our
goal is to know the process parameter to control the hardness of the blades.
Materials used in this study were steels with different chemical compositions, i.e. spring
steel, SKT 4, AISI, 1050, AISI 4340. The forging temperature was varied between 650 to
900 oC. Hardening process on the sharp side was done with heat up the knife to 800 oC then
quented to room temperature. Hardness measurement and metallographic examination were
done on the surface side and cross-section of the knife.

Figure 1. Hardness of knife on different materials

Figure 1 shows that, overall, the forging process in the manufacture of knives can increase
the hardness. Increased hardness of spring steel, JIS SKT4, AISI 4340 and AISI 1050
knives are 5, 5, 10, 3 HRC, respectively. Based on hardness testing data, AISI 4340 steel
1

knife has increased of hardness greater than the other knives after the forging process. This
is due to new grains formed after the forging process has a small size. In addition, an
increase of hardness in material is also caused by the force of forging and surface
hardening. The force of forging caused to the grain dislocation, while the surface hardening
caused to the formation of martensite and retained austenite structures on the surface of the
knife (Figure 2).

(a)
(b)

(c)

(
d)

Figure 2. Microstructure on the surface of kneves after heat treatment. (a). Knife with
spring steel, (b). knife with JIS SKT 4, (c). Knife with AISI 4340. (d) knife with AISI 1050
magnified.
Figure 2 shows the microstructure on the surface of each knife after hardening process. The
microstructure is formed consisting of martensite and retained austenite. Martensitic
structure has a dark color and spiky resemble needles while the retained austenite has a
bright color. Martensitic structure has a higher hardness than the retained austenite.
Martensitic structure more formed on the surface of the spring steel knife, while the knife of
AISI 1050 more formed retained austenite. Martensite formation occurs when austenite
transforms caused quenched process from the austenite temperature to room temperature.
Austenite is not transformed to martensite had called retained austenite.
This study shows the spring steel knife has a highest hardness, which is 62 HRC, while the
lowest hardness is owned by AISI 1050, which is equal to 46 HRC.
Keyword: forging, heat treatment, knife