FNG looking for advice

B

Bds knifes

Joined
Oct 25, 2020
Messages
1
I have been making blades though stock removal now for about a year. I have been sending the blades off for heat treatment. I
Have decided that I would like to start heat treating myself. I don’t have the money for a heat treat oven so I’m looking for advice what carbon steel is the easiest to get right in a propane forge? I have been thinking about either pops 8670 or 1084. The knifes will be drop point hunters mainly for deer hunters and camp knifes. I do realize that the blades will tarnish with use, but to be honest I like the patina and think it gives the blade character. Any advice would be great. Also I’m sorry for the question I’m sure it gets asked all the time.
 
Take a read through Larrin's recent thread on "HTing in a Forge".

Heat Treating Seven Different Steels with a Forge and Magnet

I tried my hand at heat treating with a forge. I used a range of different low alloy steels and measured each for hardness and toughness to see if I could successfully pull off good properties with little or no experience. I used the information gathered in my previous article/video about the...
bladeforums.com bladeforums.com

Short answer is 1084
 
AKS 8670 comes highly recommended, and I've been using it to good effect. My heat treater for carbon steel blades is a local blacksmith who uses a propane forge. The resulting blades so far have been excellent.
 
Yes, most of the .70-.85% carbon steels can be HTed in a forge. 5160, 8670, 1070, 1080, 1084, etc.
It take lots of practice, a magnet, reasonable shade/darkness, and lots of practice.
 
I'm a hobbyist smith and I've only made about six or seven knives, all out of 1084 or 80crv2. I'm by no means an expert, but through my own learning, I've found it's pretty accessible to do HT with a propane (or charcoal) forge. ; I normalize 3x then heat and quench (all using an atlas knifemaker's forge, highly recommended). Then I bake it twice for two hours at 400. I despite my inexperience, I haven't had any problems hardening and I haven't needed to re-quench any of them. I've also done one temper cycle with a MAPP gas torch, and it was successful, albeit a bit anxiety inducing.

From my understanding, 1084 and 80crv2 tend to work and HT similarly, and both (1084 especially) tends to be very forgiving and easy to HT for us novices.
 
Don't fear the Heat Treat!! To me it's the most fun part of making knives.

I'm still a novice, but I've made a variety of different knives. All were by stock removal, all from 1084. I built a little two brick forge that has no problem with getting things hot enough. Quench is in warmed (120-130F) canola oil. Temper in a small toaster oven using an oven thermometer to calibrate it and a tray full of play sand to add some thermal mass.

Simple, relatively inexpensive and it gets the job done. I had to re-quench a blade once and even that was fun - three normalization cycles and then the second quench. One nice thing about 1084 is that it seems to be very forgiving. If you didn't quite get the hardness you were looking for, throw it back in and try again. :)

Does the above setup give the best results? Nope. Other steels can end up harder/tougher. A proper heat treat oven and Parks 50 for the quench will certainly improve the outcome. But right now I'm not selling any of my blades so I'm not worried about it. I'm learning.

Good luck and enjoy.

-bill
 
Bds knifes said:
I have been making blades though stock removal now for about a year. I have been sending the blades off for heat treatment. I
Have decided that I would like to start heat treating myself. I don’t have the money for a heat treat oven so I’m looking for advice what carbon steel is the easiest to get right in a propane forge? I have been thinking about either pops 8670 or 1084. The knifes will be drop point hunters mainly for deer hunters and camp knifes. I do realize that the blades will tarnish with use, but to be honest I like the patina and think it gives the blade character. Any advice would be great. Also I’m sorry for the question I’m sure it gets asked all the time.
Click to expand...
1084 is excellent for beginner heat treatment
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top