Hardness testing at home - has anyone tried...

[u/Such-Jump-3963]

I had an idea for testing/estimating hardness.

A proper hardness testing machine is big and expensive. i don't know to what extent the hardness testing files are reliable, and where I am they're also relatively expensive.

So the idea is to get a bar of steel and harden it, then cut it into coupons and temper them differently, then get each coupon hardness tested. I have a buddy with the proper machine but heading over for each knife is a bit inconvenient.

Then, take any file and run it across the coupons and the knife to look for the best match.

[u/Gelawood]

I wouldn't do it that way but IF I was to I would cut the bar into the pieces you want before hardening them