Overheating?

[MCoughlin]

Hello,
I keep seeing people say careful not to overheat the steel etc.... How can you tell if you are overheating? What does it look like (color etc.)?
Take care
Mike

 

[mete]

It's easy to overheat the tip and edge and it will make the tip very brittle. If you're heating with a torch don't put heat to the tip and edge. Apply the heat only to the spine and that will travel to the edge.The color is the indicator when hardening try to keep the tip and edge close to the spine in color , avoid bright orange and yellow as much as you can. Checking with a magnet you go about 75-100F above magnetic [1414F ]

 

[MCoughlin]

Thanks mete. I just got my forge up and running and tried it out for the first time. That explains why my blade tip was brittle (I noticed while sharpening) and the belly did so well in my cutting test. I will try to stay away from those colors.
Mike