Heat Treating Unknown Steel

[frank22]

I've been grinding out a Bowie and the closer
I get to having to heat treat it the more nervous I'm getting because I don't know what sort of steel I'm using. This was a piece of stock I bought from Atlanta Cutlery
years ago. It was described as a sword blank
made in Germany before WWI. It was pretty
pitted and corroded but after lots of rough
filing and slow grinding I found this 16 inch Bowie blade inside that is beginning to look pretty sharp.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed?

 

[R Dockrell]

Pitted and corroded, it might not be a stainless alloy.

Sorry couldn't resist.
If you have any peices left that you cut off experiment by heating to non magnetic and quenching. Check hardness and use best results. Its probably a 10** steel or somthing like 5160.
Was it a small sword or is this a BIG bowie!!
16 inch blade or 16inch overall?

------------------
Robert
Flat Land Knife Works
rdblad@telusplanet.net
http://members.tripod.com/knifeworks/index.html