Quenching and Tempering of knifes

E

edy5dms

Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
8
Hi everyone,

I'm planning to make my own Ray Mears woodlore type knife using an old file by annealing and turning it to flat ground stock.

I have looked in to all stages of knife building but have not come across any good info on tempering the knife after quenching.

So I would really appreciate if you guys could share your knowledge and tips on tempering the knife. Specially the techniques used and please elaborate on the techniques where possible.

About quenching knifes I’ve seen some people using clay on the spine of the blade like the Japanese do on their swords to have a softener spine and a hard edge. Is this a good practice? Also is tempering still required if quenching is done this way. Please share your thoughts and knowledge on this.

Also any further tips on any of the prosses on knife building are greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance
 
Welcome to the forums. Filling out your profile would be helpful.

There is a ton of information on tempering on this forum, and in most every tutorial and book. Read the stickies at the top of this forum for some info and links. A good book is also recommended.

Tempering is required for all blades, regardless of how quenched. A clay coated spine will give a differential quench, leaving martensite on the edge and pearlite in the spine. This makes a tough blade. It still needs the martensite tempered. A differential temper can be done by drawing the temper down on the spine with a torch, after the regular temper cycle is done.This will yield a blade with a softer temper on the spine than on the edge.

On a first blade, I would suggest staying away from any special treatments. Bring the blade to around 1500F, and soak (hold it at constant temperature) for 5 to 10 minutes (if possible).Quench the whole blade in fast oil and temper the entire blade.

For your file steel blade, two temper cycles, two hours each, at 400F should give you a good working blade. You can use your kitchen oven to do the tempering.

To do searches for information on this forum, bookmark and use this site ( the regular search function is somewhat lacking):
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra

Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
Welcome to the forums. Filling out your profile would be helpful.

There is a ton of information on tempering on this forum, and in most every tutorial and book. Read the stickies at the top of this forum for some info and links. A good book is also recommended.

Tempering is required for all blades, regardless of how quenched. A clay coated spine will give a differential quench, leaving martensite on the edge and pearlite in the spine. This makes a tough blade. It still needs the martensite tempered. A differential temper can be done by drawing the temper down on the spine with a torch, after the regular temper cycle is done.This will yield a blade with a softer temper on the spine than on the edge.

On a first blade, I would suggest staying away from any special treatments. Bring the blade to around 1500F, and soak (hold it at constant temperature) for 5 to 10 minutes (if possible).Quench the whole blade in fast oil and temper the entire blade.

For your file steel blade, two temper cycles, two hours each, at 400F should give you a good working blade. You can use your kitchen oven to do the tempering.

To do searches for information on this forum, bookmark and use this site ( the regular search function is somewhat lacking):
http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=011197018607028182644:qfobr3dlcra

Stacy
Click to expand...


Dear stacy,

Thank you very much for your reply. I will def. attend to my profile :)
Also thanks for the info and the link, will look in the forum for lod threads and toher info on this as u suggested and thanks loads for the link.

Regards
Dileepa
 
I have another question with regard to having to soak the steel. I get the logic behind the process but the problem I have is how to maintain the temperature at the critical temp. without having an temp. controlled oven and if you only have the old coal forge. How to avoid overheating and causing grain growth in this case?

Thanks in advance
dileepa
 
Thanks for filling out your profile. Knowing that you are in Sri Lanka is important -Suggesting a local USA knife show or supplier won't help you a lot.

The trick on soaking the blade in an uncontrolled forge is getting the fire right. You want it just hot enough to maintain the desired temperature. Moving he knife constantly over the coals and flames is important. It takes some practice and experience, but with skill a smith can soak a blade for 3-5 minutes in a plain forge. That is usually enough for simple steels.
Stacy
 
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