quenching farrier files...

ScottRoush

ScottRoush

Joined
Jan 10, 2010
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just wondering what people find to be the best quenching technique for Nicholson farrier files... i'm finishing up a big chopper a guy wanted made from a file. i've heard a couple of different things.. so i'm looking for further ideas here... thnks!
 
sam.... are you saying that some of the Nicholson farrier files are case hardened??? or files in general? i've read in a few different places that Nicholson claims their files are 1095. but you can't believe everything you read i guess.

Alarion... not sure what you mean by 'AFAIK'???
 
Nicholsons are 1095 with added carbon. Around 1.23%. They get harder than a woodpeckers lips. We have used a lot of them. Try Oil heated to about *120-*130. Black Diamonds are about the same carbon content. Bellotas and Hellers are good stuff. Made plenty of hawks from them too.
here is the specs on nicholson and heller. Not the only ones Ive seen but this pretty typical..Copied from another post on another site..
•Huge old Nicholson mill bastard file:
C:1.28 | Mn:0.34 | P: 0.016 | S:0.015 | Si:0.15 | Cu: 0.02 | Cr:0.14 | Mo:0.005 | Ni: 0.02 | Sn: 0.002 | V: - | Nb: -
_____________________________

•Huge old Heller mill bastard file:
C:1.20 | Mn:0.25 | P:0.010 | S:0.020 | Si:0.12 | Cu:0.04 | Cr:0.03 | Mo: 0.004 | Ni:0.03 | Sn:0.018 | V: 0.005 | Nb:
 
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some files are case hardened, heard some different BS as to wether the Nicholson files are or not.
 
Nicholson will not tell you what it is, exactly, but 1095 with extra carbon would not surprise me. I would also believe a little extra maganese, because many years back I HTed them in a mix of motor oil and diesel, tempered at 450°, and they would hold an edge through 3 to 4 deer. I used stock removal, so did not disturb the fine grain they have. They also might contain a tad of vanadium. Never had a problem in the HT of them, and they have a wonderful grain structure as they are.
 
thanks again.....

interesting about the Save Edge.... i was gonna use it for a hawk... guess i will weld in a piece of 1084 just in case...

'AFAIK: As Far As I Know' :o lol.... thought it was some society i was excluded from...
 
I've made a bunch of em....I ht to non-magnetic and edge quench in Brownells tough quench heated to 130 degrees. Temper twice at 375 and I'm good to go. Here's one:
FileandCopperBowie.jpg
 
Save edge blades have always worked for me....Belottas are Brazilian and their quality varies greatly from file to file. I always test each blade before I work up a knife from it. Heat treat, quench in water and snap the end off....if it breaks like glass, you are in the game. Also examine the grain structure and ensure it is fine and you should be ok. My views on Save Edge and Belottas are shared by a number of knife making buddies down this way. Nicholson's are the gold standard down this way. Heller is great as well.
Thanks for the compliment Moss..
 
I have made several large blades from farrier's rasps. I have quenched in both warmed peanut oil and brine.

If you want a big blade that is very tough but springy to be used like a machete, quench in oil.

If you want a blade that is less springy, but harder, quench in brine.

Andy
 
godogs... i actually did test the save edge last night after reading yesterday that they may be case hardened.. it snapped like glass and beautiful grain.

thanks andrew... this will indeed be a chopper. i've got one of hrisoulas's 'medium light' formulae mixed up for the quench.
 
According to the Farriers boards rasps quaility have varied greatly over the last 20 years or so. Except for nicholson and a couple of real high end rasps. Its best to test them if possible.
 
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I was hugely surprised the other day when I quench tested a Nicholson farriers rasp and found it to be case hardened. I heated up the tang and quenched it in water, and then tried to break it. It bent like mild steel. I was so surprised I tried it a couple of more times just to make sure , but it's surely case-hardened.

I read somewhere that some of Nicholson's manufacturing has been moved to Brazil in recent years, but I'm not sure of it. There used to be a plant in Alabama.
 
We were finishing up a hawk today and I had a piece of save edge rasp on the bench. We hardened it and it broke clean . It took a real good whack to do it but it did.Had a nice fine grain structure. The bellotas, nicholsons and black diamonds have always broke much easier, but broke all the same...
Another thing to consider, farriers rasps arnt always made to the same specs as the hand files. Rasps are a fast throw away item in the proffesional farriers world. A couple off weeks, sometimes less is a long life for a farriers rasp. The teeth are large and thin, made to cut hoof walls, not metal.They dull fast.Something to think about. ;)
 
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