Straighten Annealed Steel

J

jawilder

Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
2,331
I annealed several files recently and found that the process warped them. I tried to bang them out on the anvil but that did nothing... duhhh, spring steel! What am I missing? Do I have to heat them back up to straighten or what?
 
jawilder said:
I annealed several files recently and found that the process warped them. I tried to bang them out on the anvil but that did nothing... duhhh, spring steel! What am I missing? Do I have to heat them back up to straighten or what?
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If they are springy and you cannot bend them, then they are not annealed. I have bent a 3/16 blade blank of annealed W2 into a pretzel by hand.
 
I had a campfire coals nice and glowing red then rebuilt the fire on it so the files were covered up with coals and let it sit overnight to cool. I'm wondering if one side is softer than the other.

I put it on the anvil again this morning and got a few straight but haven't tried all yet.
 
With that method/temp, its likely that all you did was temper out the steel. In order to anneal, its going to require that you get the steel to around 1550F, ensuring that the heat is equal and even throughout the piece(s) of steel. Then they need to be SLOW cooled (like overnight)....the slower you can cool the pieces, there better.

The warping probably was due to uneven heating and cooling....and the fact that they likely never reached the temp required for annealing.

One more thing that comes to mind....you said these were files....many modern day files are not actually high carbon/alloy steel. Most (with the exception of Nicholson brand files) are case hardened, meaning that only the surface is hardened, and the core steel is non-hardenable. This means that once you grind/file/sand past about .003" past the surface, your beyond the hardened material and it would basically be like trying to produce a blade from mild steel.

In order to do what your trying to, you really do need a forge and a good insulating media like vermiculite.
 
The adobe in my forge is drying right now. Instead of vermiculite would sand, ash, or kitty litter work? How about a combination of the three?
 
you can get vermiculite at walmart or home depot. it is the white stuff you see in potting soil. it is volcanic ash I believe. here lately should be an abundant supply with what is going on in the world..........lol.....lol........

it is pretty cheap too..........
 
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