Home Heat treating question

colu41

colu41

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Dec 24, 2014
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So I've decided to go a head and make a small forge to treat my 1084. Now I think I'll only have the power to do 1 maybe 2 blades at a time. But since, from quenching to tempering is such a time sensitive area, would it not be possible to temper a bunch of blades at one time?

Id really want to save on the electric bill and temper at least 10 blades at a time rather than 2 at a time multiple days of the week. Any suggestions would be great!
 
As far as tempering goes, for 1084 I would go to the thrift store and buy a toaster oven, ala $50 knife shop, and do it that way.
What are you using the temper ? Full size oven ?
 
Like in a home oven?
Yeah you can put as much as you want in there at the same time. Not sure if you would want to add time since more blades might take longer to heat up though.
 
Angus McGunnigle said:
As far as tempering goes, for 1084 I would go to the thrift store and buy a toaster oven, ala $50 knife shop, and do it that way.
What are you using the temper ? Full size oven ?
Click to expand...

I have a toaster oven that I use for kydex. That's for tempering though correct? And yes if I could treat a few blades at a time I was to use a full size oven but. Toaster oven is a good idea.
 
PaulBC said:
what type of forge are you making
Click to expand...

I'm not sure of different types but, I plan to make a small opened ended forged from a bag of refractory cement I have laying around, and use a propane torch. Gough Custom on Youtube has a great video on this and would definitely be the most effective and cheapest for ME.
 
Just use the kitchen oven.

For 1084, you don't have much worry about a small delay in getting into the temper.
Harden the blades in a continuous cycle of - Blade in forge, blade out of forge, quench; next blade in forge, next blade out, and quench, repeat until all blades are hardened.
Once all are done, take inside and wash well with soap and water. Dry off and set on the racks of the oven, which has been preheated to 400F. Leave in for an hour and then remove. Dunk all in a pot of water or run under the tap to cool off. Dry and put back for a second hour. Cool in water again and you are done.

If doing a lot of blades, be aware that the quench oil will warm up slowly. Unless you are using Parks #50, start at 120F and check as it rises ( a candy or frying oil thermometer is nice to clip on the tank side). When it gets to 140F either switch to another batch of oil or cool the tank down a bit. A 1 litter bottle of water frozen solid will cool the tank immediately. Just lower in with a string around the neck and move from top to bottom a couple times. The oil will drop in temperature to a point where you may have to warm it back up a bit.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Just use the kitchen oven.

For 1084, you don't have much worry about a small delay in getting into the temper.
Harden the blades in a continuous cycle of - Blade in forge, blade out of forge, quench; next blade in forge, next blade out, and quench, repeat until all blades are hardened.
Once all are done, take inside and wash well with soap and water. Dry off and set on the racks of the oven, which has been preheated to 400F. Leave in for an hour and then remove. Dunk all in a pot of water or run under the tap to cool off. Dry and put back for a second hour. Cool in water again and you are done.

If doing a lot of blades, be aware that the quench oil will warm up slowly. Unless you are using Parks #50, start at 120F and check as it rises ( a candy or frying oil thermometer is nice to clip on the tank side). When it gets to 140F either switch to another batch of oil or cool the tank down a bit. A 1 litter bottle of water frozen solid will cool the tank immediately. Just lower in with a string around the neck and move from top to bottom a couple times. The oil will drop in temperature to a point where you may have to warm it back up a bit.
Click to expand...

Thanks again Stacy. I've read a lot of HT info and people say to immediately after hardening to temper it but. I'll try this out.
 
How critical is the oil temperature? I put a piece of red hot scrap steel in the oil first to warm it up, then quench 2-3 blades.
 
I would also like to know. Is 140 too warm? Also thanks for the tip with the frozen plastic bottle. I usually have to turn my hot plate off and just wait for 4 gallons to cool a bit,wasting time and propane.

Also I thought 1084 needed 2-2 hour cycles in temper,not 2-1 hr cycles am I wrong?
 
Last edited:
The standard temperature range of quench oil is 120-140F. parks #50 is an exception and works best at 80F.

The older tempering suggestions were two 2 hour tempers. That has proved to be more than is needed. Two 1 hour tempers with water quench/cooling after each cycle is sufficient for blade thicknesses.

I have a 24" rod of 3/4" round stock with a piece of 1.5" round welded on the end. I stick it in the forge while it is heating up, and when red, I stick it in the quench tank and stir well. It seems to bring the temp up sufficiently. Unless it is winter, I just use my Parks #50 at ambient temp (most of the time around here 60-90).
 
Just curious, I live in Michigan. Very cold right now. And I do all of my work in my cold garage other than grinding now. So how will this affect the heat treating? I am currently working on building a forge as we speak. Just watching a few more tutorials before I go ahead and do it. Now for quenching, how much oil is recommended for quench? I plan to do it like you said Stacy and heat one blade, quench it, heat another, quench, and so forth. I might just start with my 1st 3 blanks I made. But not sure how much oil to use for 3 blades, and also is there a certain way for setting the blades in the quench? Hanging? On a rack?
 
The bare minimum for small blades is one gallon. Personally, I consider two gallons the minimum. The more oil the better it absorbs the heat. A 6X6X18" rectangular tank is a good starter size. It holds about 2.5
A 6"X18" pipe tank holds 2 gallons.
 
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