i think i understand where youre coming from. my original approach to knife making was that i should be able to do this without spending a ton of money, and i did. i made pretty good knives out of coil springs with a oxy/acetylene torch and some fireplace bricks, also with a pit dug in the backyard and fed with coal and a hair dryer motor attached to an old fence post tube. i only used local or found wood. i still like the idea of that approach. however, if and when you get some money saved up buy an oven. h.t. with the oven will give you superior, and more importantly, predictable results. that said build a little 3 sided wall outta old bricks to reflect some of that torch heat back at the blade and use a magnet to tell when your almost there. sparks=bad, very bad. good luck man.
leif
