Heat Treat Question

tbow

tbow

Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
554
I am using 1084 steel. I am using a paint can forge with a Mapp gas torch. I did some blades this weekend and one of them was a little long to fit all the way in. I did the blade first and once it attained the right color I quenched it in heated canola oil. After it cooled some I put it back in the forge to do the rest. After the same procedure I put the blades in the oven for 2 425 degree temper cycles including cooling under tap water between and after. The blade came out with about a one inch section on the blade near the ricasso that is blue. The rest has a straw type color. My question is do I need to reheat treat this blade or will it work like this?
 
Last edited:
The collor that the blade gets in the tempering oven means very little, can be from straw to blue and be the same. Surface contamination or even something in the air in the oven can effect this color. BUT, if you tried to harden one end of the knife then quench and harden the other end you have a FAIL. Because the end you hardened first would be getting tempered way to hot as the other end came to quench temp. Some where where in the middle of the knife where you had already hardened it it got way to hot. No way the blade was at 1450 on one end and not above 450 where it had already been quenched.

To do a big blade you either need a bigger oven or to hold the tang end with tongs and keep the blade end moving back and forth in the forge until the entire blade section is at temp then quench. It won't hurt anything if some of the tang end doesn't get up to temp. Not ideal, but way better than the impossible task of hardening it in 2 separate passes. Good luck.
 
Will reheat treat on the blade portion be worth doing? Or is it a lost cause?
 
1084 will heat treat again for you just fine. Pre-heat the tang/ricasso, first. Then, flip it around and pump the blade through the forge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top