Did I Remove the Temper?

[redsquid2]

When gluing up the scales to the tang, I decided to speed up the cure time by subjecting the knife to heat. placed it directly in front of a halogen work light, with a foil reflector:

When I took it out of my "heat lamp epoxy curing oven," the blade and corby screws were hot enough that I could not keep my fingers on them.

If it ruined the temper, I don't know if that will change the hardness, or cause the edge to roll or chip or what.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

--redsquid2

 

[RockFireForge]

When tempering watch for color change of the knife steel you want golden straw color for basic knife steel such as o1 or 10xx series if it turned blue then that's to soft for a knife but would be a good temper for a spring


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[redsquid2]

Additional information: I do not know how hot it got exactly. I put a digital thermometer in front of the lamp to measure the temperature, and the thermometer just went blank, like it could not function at that temperature. All I know is the lamp says use a 300 Watt bulb.

The steel of this knife is AEB-L.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

You are fine. If there was too much heat, your handle would be toast - literally.

Too hot to touch is 150-180F.
Hot enough to affect the temper is 450F and higher.
Hot enough to ruin the temper is 600F and up.

 

[redsquid2]

What a relief. I went ahead and shaped the handle, putting a lot of contouring on it. It would have been a shame to scrap it.

 

[PNWJimbo]

I dig those curves, baby