Paragon Industries, L.P. HT22D

Paragon KM-36D Knife Maker’s Heat Treating Furnace Wherever humans have withstood severe tests—whether in the steaming jungles of the South Pacific, the cruel deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan, or the Chosen Reservoir—they have depended upon great knives. Wherever explorers have gone, they have taken great knives with them—over the prairies and mountains of the American west, across the desolate plains of the North Pole, through the silence of deep space. Knives have always accompanied explorers on great journeys. Yet knife making, itself, is an adventure all its own. It begins when the future owner shares the dream of a special knife with the maker. They talk excitedly over the first rough sketches. Then the maker retires to his shop and loses himself in the creation of the knife. Time disappears; the hours tick by as he grinds, heat treats, polishes. New higher furnace temperatures Paragon’s knifemaking furnaces are now rated to 2350 degrees F, so you can heat treat as hot as you need to. In addition, you can order a furnace in your choice of two temperature controllers. Test exotic heat treating formulas When you own a Paragon KM-36D furnace, you can live the knife making adventure to the fullest. The soul of the blade is born in the crucible of the furnace that resides in your own shop. Many knifemakers enjoy owning a furnace, because they can test their favorite steels in many ways. After altering the heat treating formula, they put blades through severe tests. Yes, they test for Rockwell hardness, but they don’t stop there. The serious knifemaker tests the knife against hemp rope and 2x4s. They bend the blade to 45° or even 90°. Then they straighten the blade, slap on a handle and test it in the real world. The knife maker with a KM-series furnace can try exotic heat treating methods at his leisure. Does quenching in dry ice improve blade performance? What happens when 52100 steel is triple-quenched with a one-day wait between each quench? After this treatment, will a 52100 blade bend to 90° without chipping?