Happy day all! Last night I hardened, quenched, and tempered my first knife. Pretty much everything I learned came from bladeforums so I thank you all. The people asking, the people answering, the people just saying... all very helpful.
The knife is .14" thick and made from 1084 from USAknifemaker.com.
Hardening and quench process: So I used a BBQ with natural hardwood lump charcoal and some 2" pipes beneath with a hair dryer air supply. Magnet to check for non-magnetic then put back in to get the blade a bit hotter. Knife taken out and placed directly into 3 gallons of 120F vegetable oil, tip down, movements up and down and spine to edge. Taken out and cooled to room temp. No warping or cracks. I believe this all went very smoothly.
Temper process: Lightly cleaned the knife with 320 grit sandpaper, when kitchen oven was at 450F I placed it directly on the rack, left for 2 hours, taken out and let cool to room temp, placed back in for another 2 hours and flipped the knife so the other side was facing down this time. And although the photos show tinfoil I did not use any for the tempering.
My question.. After the second 2 hour temper the knife had blue lines from the oven rack. I did not completely clean off the knife before the temper so could this be discoloration from that or does this look like the steel was just heated too much? If heated too much, could I simply redo the hardening, quenching, and tempering or are there other steps to take?
Thank you for your time.
IMG_2924 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/EbM4Fz]
IMG_2921 by
[url=https://flic.kr/p/DLwuCk]
IMG_2919 by
https://www.flickr.com/photos/78866742@N02/
The knife is .14" thick and made from 1084 from USAknifemaker.com.
Hardening and quench process: So I used a BBQ with natural hardwood lump charcoal and some 2" pipes beneath with a hair dryer air supply. Magnet to check for non-magnetic then put back in to get the blade a bit hotter. Knife taken out and placed directly into 3 gallons of 120F vegetable oil, tip down, movements up and down and spine to edge. Taken out and cooled to room temp. No warping or cracks. I believe this all went very smoothly.
Temper process: Lightly cleaned the knife with 320 grit sandpaper, when kitchen oven was at 450F I placed it directly on the rack, left for 2 hours, taken out and let cool to room temp, placed back in for another 2 hours and flipped the knife so the other side was facing down this time. And although the photos show tinfoil I did not use any for the tempering.
My question.. After the second 2 hour temper the knife had blue lines from the oven rack. I did not completely clean off the knife before the temper so could this be discoloration from that or does this look like the steel was just heated too much? If heated too much, could I simply redo the hardening, quenching, and tempering or are there other steps to take?
Thank you for your time.
IMG_2924 by [url=https://flic.kr/p/EbM4Fz]
IMG_2921 by [url=https://flic.kr/p/DLwuCk]
IMG_2919 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/78866742@N02/
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