how to heat treat

I don't know. I do know you will have to provide more information. Type of steel? RC you are shooting for? Equipment you have at your disposal. Do you want to do it yourself? Or would you be okay sending it out (Peters)?
 
I don't know the steel its just a piece of flat steel. I'd like to do it my self as for tools im looking at making a forge. And I don't know what you mean by RC.
 
There is no way to instruct you in how to properly heat treat a piece of steel if you don't know the type. Before you attempt heat treating, you would do yourself a tremendous favor by researching it and reading up on it. There is a great deal of information out there that you only have to digest.

Thinking of "heat treating" as a generic procedure is like thinking of "baking" the same way. If you want to bake a cake, there are different steps and heats than if you are baking chicken or making tiramisu. In the same way, the type of steel will determine the type of heat treatment. It generally involves the following steps:

1) If forging or using steel of unknown history, normalizing and thermal cycles
2) Pre-soak
3) Austenitizing (bringing the steel to a critical temperature and holding/soaking a specified amount of time)
4) Quenching
5) Tempering

Many of the steps differ depending on steel type. CPM154 stainless, for instance, needs a brief pre-soak at around 1400F, followed by heating to around 1950F and holding for (edit) 30 minutes or so, followed by quench between thick aluminum plates, followed by multiple tempers. The temperature of the temper depends on the hardness you desire. And all of the steps before the temper are typically done in a stainless foil packet.

On the other hand, a more simple steel like 1084 doesn't really need a pre-soak, austenitizes at around 1450-1500F and quenches in a fast oil without any real soak at temperature. An oil like Park's #50 works best, but canola will probably do if the blade isn't too thick. Then you temper a few times, again, with the temperature depending on your desired hardness.

So as you see, it's not as simple as "heat it until it glows with a torch and dunk it in motor oil" as some youtube videos would have us believe. It's doable. You can do it yourself if you have the equipment and are using the correct steel to match your equipment's capability. For instance, you don't really heat treat stainless in a forge. You need tighter temperature control for that. You can heat treat 1084 in a forge very well. 1095 or O1, and you're better off with a kiln due to the need to hold at a certain critical temperature to austenitize before the quench. Control is needed because over-heating the steel can cause the steel to become brittle.

I would advise using a steel of a known, or at least surmised, type. The piece of steel you have may very well be low-carbon and not usable for making a knife due to its inability to harden. Then again, you may have a piece of great steel; there is just no way of knowing. You can pick up a piece of 1084 barstock for fairly cheap from many knife-supply companies.

--nathan
 
Last edited:
spyderco_freak said:
I don't know the steel its just a piece of flat steel. I'd like to do it my self as for tools im looking at making a forge. And I don't know what you mean by RC.
Click to expand...

Unless you went to great pains to find a knifemaking steel and know what it is, it it not going to make a knife.

The most common steel available will not harden.


If you have no heat treating equipment, I reccomend using a stainless like 154CM or CPM 154 and shipping it out to a pro heat treater.

Have a look at this

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...making-my-first-knife?p=12324104#post12324104
 
Filling out your profile will be very helpful if you want help.
Someone telling you to buy steel from a US supplier that does not ship to Canada, or a heat treater in Pennsylvania will not help you.
Knowing that you are (for example) in Vancouver, might allow some maker there to offer you some steel or HT help.
Aldo ships steel to Canada. www.newjerseysteelbaron.com
 
While you're waiting for tool steel to show up, you can practice with that piece...
 
I'm just over an hour from Brandon. Right off the sask border. If you start with some 1084 that would be your best bet. I don't mean any offence but just curious how old you are. The reason I ask is that I don't have much of a dedicated shop, just my own small setup, but I have a forge and such, and could help out if you wanted to use some 1084 or simple steel. Feel free to email me at brandongray69@email.com. If you are serious about this I may have some materials I could get to you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top