I have been thinking of making up a couple of "hunter's axes". I will gring them our of 3 to 4 inch wide 5160. 12 to 18 inches long. Full tang, slab handles. This would be new barstock - annealed.
My question is this - would it be effective to harden and temper the cutting edge alone?
If I did that - what are the odds that the shaft would be too soft and subject to bending under heavy use.
Should I also harden the shafts and then draw them back with a torch to a deep blue. (Hopefully a nice spring temper.)
Another Question - I use a torch to heat for hardening, no oven available. It would probably be too hard to get all of it up to critical temp at one time. Would it be OK to the finiched product if I hardened it in sections?
For those of you who have worked with junk yard springs in the past, you know what a hassel that is as opposed to new barstock. However, those truck springs are VERY tough as is. I have always wondered what the Rc are on those things - seems like it would be a perfect "spring temper". (I guess it ACTUALLY is.) What color would they need to be drawn back to?
[This message has been edited by tejas7 (edited 10 December 1999).]
My question is this - would it be effective to harden and temper the cutting edge alone?
If I did that - what are the odds that the shaft would be too soft and subject to bending under heavy use.
Should I also harden the shafts and then draw them back with a torch to a deep blue. (Hopefully a nice spring temper.)
Another Question - I use a torch to heat for hardening, no oven available. It would probably be too hard to get all of it up to critical temp at one time. Would it be OK to the finiched product if I hardened it in sections?
For those of you who have worked with junk yard springs in the past, you know what a hassel that is as opposed to new barstock. However, those truck springs are VERY tough as is. I have always wondered what the Rc are on those things - seems like it would be a perfect "spring temper". (I guess it ACTUALLY is.) What color would they need to be drawn back to?
[This message has been edited by tejas7 (edited 10 December 1999).]
