Simple Heat treating techniques?

B

BallewBlade

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Oct 10, 2011
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So I have been working a few customs knives and im still very new to this. One of the knives is from an old cold saw blade I got from work and i basically just heated the thing red hot until the magnet did not want to stick and quenched it in motor oil. I then tempered it in an oven for 3 hours at 350 degres and it seams to hold an edge just fine.The other knife is a horse shoers rasp file that i fordged an edge on which gave it a nice curve. So any way i heated it red hot till the magnet did'nt stick, put an edge on it, then chopped into some wood and the edge got all dented up! Where did i go wrong? Can anyone give me some advice on basic heat treating, I cant seem to find any really good info on this. The forge i have is an old ferriers for horse shoes probably not the best for knives but oh well its all i have!! Thanks :D
 
The saw blade hardened in motor oil because it was fairly thin. The rasp did not harden
because it is likely made from 1095 or W1/W2 and requires a much faster quench than
motor oil can provide.

Added: Check out the "stickies" in the shoptalk forum......
 
my first attempt at making a knife came from using a farriers rasp. i sent it off to peter's heat treating,
thinking that the steel was similar to 1095. wrong-came back still pretty soft. moral of the story is-
it's cheaper and better to use a known steel.

by the way i'm still pretty piss-poor in my knife making endeavors,but am getting better and learning as i go.
 
Go to Nordic knives in solvang, and start a conversation up, there is a maker that works there i spoke with him this last summer in person when i was visiting, he just returned from the moran school of bladesmithing, you might find he'll share some info and time with you! Beyond that some very nice pieces that shoulde inspire you for sure! GHaile
 
Hey BallewBlade,
First off, thanks for taking the time to fill out your profile and welcome to BladeForums!

Secondly, read the stickies, brother. Heat treating can be done simply or get rather complicated depending on the results you're looking for. I personally think it is great to start off with rudimentary tools and processes.... it is so much fun to go about it in a simplistic way. I do think that if you get serious about knifemaking, you need to become knowledgeable about what is happenning within the steel and how it affects its physical properties. As I already said, please take the time to read the stickies.

The main issue with honest newbies(yourself) posting threads like this, is it often turns into a "proper way to make knives" battle between the other members. That is why we created the "stickies" at the top of the page. We get many threads like this, BallewBlade.... some of the veteran members cringe whenever another one pops up(usually a couple times a week... lol) We all want to help you but it helps us out if you take it upon yourself to read up on the info we've laid out for you.

You will find that HT techniques are a controversial topic around here... but that's only because we are passionate about making knives!

Jump in!
Rick
 
We go thru a lot of rasps..For hawks and stuff like rasp asps..Not all rasps are 1095 ish' anymore..If your gonna use a rasp check them first..Cut off a piece and see if it will harden..Some of the cheaper ones are case hardned or something like 1040..
I always cut off about a two inch piece..Quenched it, put it in the vise and smack it with the hammer..It should break like glass. Be careful, I did that with a "Save-Edge" brand rasp and it shattered like glass :eek: Pieces went everywhere and if I hadnt had safety glasses on some would have made it into my eye..
These were hardened and broken rasps..A bellota, a save-edge and Heller..Notice the grain growth in the save edge..That was my fault, I over heated the piece..
Picture175.jpg
 
I love seeing pictures of grain comparisons, because it saves me from breaking a bunch of things to have something to compare to. Thanks :)
 
Your welcome..I do have a pic of a save-edge rasp that was not over heated and quenched in mcmaster-carr fst oil..Its grain is better than the one in the pic above..Not as fine as the bellota or heller but still better than that one..
mgysgthath said:
I love seeing pictures of grain comparisons, because it saves me from breaking a bunch of things to have something to compare to. Thanks :)
Click to expand...
 
Wow good to know i have been there a few times but i will definatly see about talking to him!! thanks
GTH11 said:
Go to Nordic knives in solvang, and start a conversation up, there is a maker that works there i spoke with him this last summer in person when i was visiting, he just returned from the moran school of bladesmithing, you might find he'll share some info and time with you! Beyond that some very nice pieces that shoulde inspire you for sure! GHaile
Click to expand...
 
Lol ok yeah i can see what you mean everyone has their own way of doing things!! Thanks and i will read the stickies.
 
Like most things, heat treating can be as simple or arcane as you want to make it. Eight months ago I heated blades with a torch, determined the critical temperature with a magnet and quenched them in Canola Oil - pretty simple operation. Six months ago I started shipping my blades to Peter's Heat Treat - even simpler. Shipping and waiting for blades from heat treat became a chore. A few months ago I got a Paragon oven and some Canola Oil. Have fun with it. If you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong.
 
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