Hi Rod, that is a very good question and the answer is that I did nothing to determine the condition of the metal. In fact it did not even occur to me as the ivory was only discolored, not burned and the metal looked pristine without any discoloration or scaling. I have studied annealing and heat treating some for the purpose of re-casecoloring shotgun receivers but in the case of this knife I don't believe the temperature was anywhere near high enough to affect the temper of stainless steel.
Dave