How ruined is this?

N

navasky

Joined
Dec 7, 2009
Messages
74
I made some modifications to my charcoal forge yesterday and apparently it gets a lot hotter now cause I burned a chunk out of the edge of this:
IMG_5820.jpg

This was going to be a bardiche/glaive type thing. I was thinking that possibly I could just grind off everything ahead of the groove and make the blade less wide. How far in is the heat affected zone likely to extend? I have zero experience with burnt steel so any advice would be much appreciated.

Closeups of the burnt area:
IMG_5821.jpg


IMG_5822.jpg


Thanks.
 
I don't think it's ruined. I've done the same in the pastwith one of mine. I ground the burnt area out, reforged it and tested the heck out of it. It's a fine cutter, and I can't see any problems.

By the way, what happened to that blade doesn't necesarily mean your fire was too hot. That burn area is the direct result of the red hot air blowing directly on that part of the blade. Alwas make sure you have a thick layer of charcoal between your air and the blade. Also, it took me a long time to realize the fire doesn't need a lot of air. Once it's up to heat a gently steady stream of air will do the trick.
 
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Sounds like I need some education. If you bring a overheated piece of steel back up to the proper temp, why can't you re-forge it? Aren't you returning it to it's previous state?. Has the chemical composition of the steel changed so drastically it can't be reforged into a useable knife?
 
David.... you would need to grind away so much stock to get past the decarb that the amount of time put in would not be sensible. It wouldn't have been an even "burn" either, so you could never be sure of the quality after something like that. It is salvageable, but not worth it, IMO. Even burning mild steel like that pretty much ensures poor forging and loss of structural integrity. We are talking temperatures that exceed welding.
 
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