Making a blade from a file in 9 easy steps

Angus McGunnigl said:
I have annealed files succsessfully doing the way greenpete shows in his video.
Build a campfire and get good coals going, spread coals flat and evenly, lay files flat on coals, place alot of smaller diameter, dry,wood on top(8 inches worth it so), i then use a hair dryer to get the fire roaring quickly, and a few more small pieces of wood. let it burn and dif the files out the next morning.
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You'd have to be careful of slow cooling from above critical with that one, and possible decarb... Better off just laying it on the coals, (no blast), bringing it to a black heat (ideally about 1200 degrees) for a few minutes and air cooling. Or, as long as it doesn't go above a black heat or non magnetic,... slow cooling on top of the coals should be O.K.

"The old vermiculite and slow cool from full red heat is not the way to soften a file. Either bring it up to above 1400°F ( red heat) - cool to 900°F (black heat) - and then quench;
or heat ONLY to black heat and slow cool. Both are different ways of getting a soft file.
If you heat a file red hot and bury it in the ashes/vermiculite overnight, I guarantee you will find hard spots in places when you start filing." Bladsmth

... not saying it won't work, just a bit risky if you can't see the temperature colors through all the wood. If you kept an eye on, it might be O.K.
 
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bladsmth said:
Poor sex and no staying power, because your first experience was in the back of a car and lasted 30 seconds?

Cheap beer, because the first beer you drank was Rolling-Rock?
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30 second sex in the back of my car isn't/wasn't nessesarily a bad thing... ;) LOL
(Thanks for the reminder)

Quick sex and a Rolling Rock....... That's what I'm talking about! :)
 
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Hey Stacy,

... Just long enough so she can think/say we did it… no strings attached. ;)
 
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Thanks for the input, Tai Goo.

I am in awe that I have a response from a guy I first heard about in Wayne Goddards book, The $50 Knife shop.
Thank you again.
 
What a fun thread- and the other one that's going has some really inspiring shots of file knives with nice hamon activity...and why not, if Nicholson uses a known steel we should be able to pretty much nail the heat treat, with a bit of testing.
While we chase the ultimate in blade steel and controlled heat treatment, it's good to remember that a file knife done right is "good enough" for a generation or two of daily use, though it may not be "good enough" to sit in a safe.
That said, back to chasing the elusive bird of perfection... :D
 
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