If its hardened, you shouldn't be able to file it at all really.
But you can buy the steel already in a normalized/annealed state. Then just harden and temper once you're to shape
To Keith's point, One other thought: consider sending the piece off to be heat treated professionally: i recently used Peters Hear Treating service. They were fast, have verified hardness testing, and cost about $20 for the knife I was doing (which was D2 tool steel)
If you want to do the treatment yourself, just be sure to pick a steel that is known for ease of treatment (liked 1095. Not like D2, which requires a 30 minute soak at 1850f inside an oxygen free environment...)
Last edited by Woodreaux; 04/30/20 07:29 AM.
