Ever since I completed my first knife, I have suspected that the steel was just too soft. Had to sharpen at a 30degree angle to keep the edge from rolling, it scratched just looking at it. But it was sharp as heck so I thought, what the hell, it's my first. Well this weekend, I was using it to dig out a dowel from a board and the tip deformed. That was it, I made the decision to re-heat treat. (Glad I made it with removable scales) As a beginner, I thought it may help other beginners to post some of my observations from a newbie's perspective. So here are my musings, in no particular order. I hope they help at least 1 other person.
1. If using a propane torch as a burner, get an adapter / hose to hook it up to your bbq grill tank. Besides the economy of it, it allows you more options for torch placement.
2. A crappy Benzomatic TS3000 will get hot enough, but it takes time. Be patient and preheat the forge. I don't think I let the forge heat up enough the first time and I had a hell of a time getting even heat. (Clearly, I didn't. At least not hot enough)
3. The inlet for the torch on my can forge is towards the front, but this proved to be problematic. If you can use 2 torches, I think that would work best. A friend is willing to donate a spare torch to the cause, so I will add that to the mix in the future. But if you are strapped and only have 1 torch, even toward the front, I wasn't getting the back of the blade towards the ricasso hot enough. What worked best was blowing the heat in from the front at an angle so the flame would swirl up the side wall and bounce back from the rear (my forge is closed at the back). When the forge was properly pre-heated, the blade got up to temp evenly and more quickly. Minimal pumping in and out was needed.
4. Practice makes perfect - I practiced heating up a "learning experience" scrap piece of 1080 to non-magnetic, noted the color and then I watched for 2 shades brighter and noted that. Did that about 30 times so I could memorize what the steel looks like. By the time I put my actual blade in, I felt more confident and was able to get from what I hope was critical to the quench quickly and efficiently. I think I will keep doing this until I have it licked.
5. Give the blade a good file test - The first go, I was timid with my file test. It seemed like it skated and sounded glassy. So to be honest, I don't know if it was the temper or the hardening that was the issue. But this time around I was more thorough and tested all parts of the blade more aggressively. I wanted to be sure.
Pulled an all nighter and tempered it in the toaster oven, which holds temp WAY better than the kitchen oven. Best 12 bucks I ever spent. haha. This morning I cleaned it up and put an edge on it. Went with 20 degrees and it's holding so far. Flexed the tip and it sprung back into shape, so I think I'm in business. Time will tell.
1. If using a propane torch as a burner, get an adapter / hose to hook it up to your bbq grill tank. Besides the economy of it, it allows you more options for torch placement.
2. A crappy Benzomatic TS3000 will get hot enough, but it takes time. Be patient and preheat the forge. I don't think I let the forge heat up enough the first time and I had a hell of a time getting even heat. (Clearly, I didn't. At least not hot enough)
3. The inlet for the torch on my can forge is towards the front, but this proved to be problematic. If you can use 2 torches, I think that would work best. A friend is willing to donate a spare torch to the cause, so I will add that to the mix in the future. But if you are strapped and only have 1 torch, even toward the front, I wasn't getting the back of the blade towards the ricasso hot enough. What worked best was blowing the heat in from the front at an angle so the flame would swirl up the side wall and bounce back from the rear (my forge is closed at the back). When the forge was properly pre-heated, the blade got up to temp evenly and more quickly. Minimal pumping in and out was needed.
4. Practice makes perfect - I practiced heating up a "learning experience" scrap piece of 1080 to non-magnetic, noted the color and then I watched for 2 shades brighter and noted that. Did that about 30 times so I could memorize what the steel looks like. By the time I put my actual blade in, I felt more confident and was able to get from what I hope was critical to the quench quickly and efficiently. I think I will keep doing this until I have it licked.
5. Give the blade a good file test - The first go, I was timid with my file test. It seemed like it skated and sounded glassy. So to be honest, I don't know if it was the temper or the hardening that was the issue. But this time around I was more thorough and tested all parts of the blade more aggressively. I wanted to be sure.
Pulled an all nighter and tempered it in the toaster oven, which holds temp WAY better than the kitchen oven. Best 12 bucks I ever spent. haha. This morning I cleaned it up and put an edge on it. Went with 20 degrees and it's holding so far. Flexed the tip and it sprung back into shape, so I think I'm in business. Time will tell.
