Im new here and I was wondering how do you guys get even heat distribution when hardening, annealing, normalizing, etc. with a charcoal/coke forge. I don't have sufficient funds to buy a heat treat oven. Also, should you normalize before you anneal or just anneal right when you get your shipment of steel?
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Even Heat Distribution
- Thread starter jmrtn8
- Start date
- Joined
- May 12, 2012
- Messages
- 846
Usually when you buy steel it is annealed out of the box but I guess it depends on where you buy it. You can place a metal pipe in your forge and let it act as a muffle. Place you blade inside the pipe and the heat will be more evenly distributed.
I'm not a heat and beat guy myself, hopefully one will step in with a little more detail for you.
Cheers
I'm not a heat and beat guy myself, hopefully one will step in with a little more detail for you.
Cheers
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 1,798
I'm not a forger, and I send my steel out for HT so I can't help with that, but if you get steel from Aldo you should not need to do anything to it before you start grinding. I hope that helped. Also, read all the stickys, there is a ton of awesome info and people here that will help.
- Joined
- Jan 6, 2005
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- 9,680
Aldo has told me to normalize his 1084. Though, if he actually states that a given steel is annealed, take him on his word... he won't steer you wrong. Otherwise, NEVER take for granted that mill steel is normalized/annealed.
The mufflepipe set up is a great way to even out heat and even reduce decarb, if done right. First off, make sure you are using thickwalled pipe(automotive muffler pipe is not thick enough).In a coal forge, make sure you keep the pipe suspended and not sitting directly on the coals or you will get cold spots. You also need to cover the top with brick or Kaowool(ceramic blanket) to retain heat further. I would also not advise letting the blade sit in the pipe. Put the blade into the pipe, edge up and pump it back and forth. Keep it moving.
Merry X-Mas!
The mufflepipe set up is a great way to even out heat and even reduce decarb, if done right. First off, make sure you are using thickwalled pipe(automotive muffler pipe is not thick enough).In a coal forge, make sure you keep the pipe suspended and not sitting directly on the coals or you will get cold spots. You also need to cover the top with brick or Kaowool(ceramic blanket) to retain heat further. I would also not advise letting the blade sit in the pipe. Put the blade into the pipe, edge up and pump it back and forth. Keep it moving.
Merry X-Mas!