Made a 2 brick forge.

M

Maelstrom78

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Sep 21, 2013
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I popped that 1/8 bar of Aldo's 1080 in and it got non magnetic! So tomorrow I'm off to Costco for some canola oil to give quenching a whirl.

A couple gallons should suffice right? I've read the stickies on 1080 heat treating.

I have a question, however. What do you guys use to hold your quenchant? I see on YouTube Trollsky uses a metal ammo box. Could I use an unused gallon paint can from Menard's or something?

Also for that "FLO" (forge like object) I put the opening for the torch in back, angled towards the front. I think I will flip it around, and the hot spot immediately across from it would hit the tip of the blade. If the opening was towards the front of the Forge I could heat the thicker part of the knife first to not overheat the tip. I could just back a spare brick over the existing hole I would guess?

Can't wait to give it a try.
 
I actually did the same thing today. Heat treated my first two knive today. Used two insulating firebricks and used banding from work to hold them together. They cracked when I drilled them because I clamped them to tight. I bought 2 extra bricks so I can remake if this one falls apart. Putting the torch port in the front angling it up and back is a better way to go. Seems to have worked very well for what it is. Good luck tomorrow. Let us know how it works out for you.

Jay
 
I'm almost certain that it is OK, but that bar of steel is still OK to grind correct? I did get the end to non metallic and then let it cool there on the brick. Thanks!
 
The part that you got non magnetic might end up a little harder to grind or file. But you should be OK.
 
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Dark garage. Got to non magnetic and moved them around until a shade or two brighter and into the heated canola. Left them in for a twenty count and they are cooling now. No warps that I see. Going to scrub them with dishwashing liquid and then into the oven for 2 hours at 400.
 
Tried the edge of a file on the spine on one and under a slight amount of decarb it seemed to skate off. They looked good (relatively) when I scrubbed them off. There was a 3-4 inch blue flame coming out the front of the 2 brick so perhaps the atmosphere inside was good for avoiding scale.
 
Man, grinding hardened metal is different.
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Here, fresh out of the oven some delicious 1084.

Probably is not impressive to the experienced makers. Pretty darn fun for me!
 
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Just noticedI forgot to drill the bolster holes on that Loveless type blade. I wonder if I should try with a carbine bit or just grind that little nub off.
 
You could anneal it and then drill the holes. It seems your HT was successful so doing it one more time might not be too much of a problem. A carbide bit has worked for me on hardened steel, but the bits are a little brittle.
 
This is cool! I was all gung ho for doing this after reading one of Aaron Gough's post on it but, I got distracted by other projects. I have a bowie in 1084 that is ready for HT. I'm going to do it this way.

Bob
 
Yes zaph that one looks cool as well. I have some extra firebricks (There is a place by my work that they sell the 2300 degree ones for $5.50) so I might try that design out. I have had some difficulty finding wire mesh that is not galvanized. I'm not sure if it would get hot enough for it to be a problem but i don't want to take the chance. For the rods I might buy some allthread, washers and nuts.
 
I was thinking of making something similar. Do you guys think terracotta pipe could handle the required heat? I found a bunch behind my home. I know its already fired, at between somewhere 1500F and 2012F (the Google results give varying temps).
 
You would need to insulate it like a forge with refractory blanket/cement or something so it could be an OK body depending on its diameter.
 
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