Help! Forging malfunction?

[TheronF]

Help! Beginner. Forged a blank out of an old usa chisel. Everything was going good. I didnt quench at a high enough temp so I threw it back in the forge for a second go. Came back after 15 min and my knife had nearly melted in half, or that what I assumed. I didnt think I could get my little 12×12 coal forge that hot. Did I loose it to scale? One minute it looked good and the next it looked like a melted candle. Also the color when I pulled it out was dark orange not even close to yellow. Thanks for dragging along a noob. -Theron

 

[weo]

Very easy to get a coal forge hot enough to burn steel. Also, colors look a lot darker outside during the daytime. Everything you read about heat treating during the daytime outside in the sunlight says to do your heat treating at night so you can read heat colors more accurately.

 

[HSC ///]

15 mins sitting in a coal forge seems like a long long time

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

When working a col forge, just turning your attention away for 30 seconds can end up with a sparkler ( burning steel). I woul not expect to find much of anything left after 15 minutes.