Knife for wood processing and methods for plating and surface treating a knife for wood processing

A method of forming a knife comprising:

• providing a knife body including a cutting surface, a relief surface and a knife clamp surface, wherein the cutting surface and the relief surface intersect at an apex region;
• plating the knife body including the cutting surface, the relief surface and the clamp surface with a thermally conductive plating;
• and
• boriding an apex region of the knife body, wherein the thermally conductive material transmits heat that is produced at the apex region of the knife body to a heat sink that is in contact with the clamp surface of the knife body.

A method of forming a knife structure comprising:

• providing a knife body having a cutting surface, a relief surface and a knife clamp surface, wherein the cutting surface and the relief surface intersect at an apex region;
• boriding the apex region of the knife structure;
• and
• forming a thermally conductive plating on the knife structure after said boriding, wherein the thermally conductive plating is present on at least the cutting surface, the relief surface and the clamp surface.