straightening question - post HT

jwesthurl

jwesthurl

Joined
Sep 17, 2013
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I had a blade heat treated and tempered last week and I did some straightening during the temper but during hand sanding I noticed a bow in the handle. Is there anything I can do to fix it? Another temper cycle to straighten? Any help would be appreciated.
 
How was the blade HT'd ? Some don't quench the tang -if so you may be able to just bend it.
If the tang was quenched then you have to do it like you would do the blade proper. Never try to bend a hardened blade under 400 F
 
Some pics here would be helpful. Yes, the easiest thing to do would probably be to re-temper at the same temperature as your other temper cycles with the tang clamped in a jig. Over-bend by approximately the amount of the warp you see now.
 
If you're just straightening the tang at this point, you can clamp the blade in a vise, put a bit of heat on it with a torch, 3-400 degrees or so, then bend it. The heat is enough to keep it from breaking, but not so much to ruin your temper, and even if it were, your vise will act like a heat sink and keep the blade itself from getting hot.
 
I do what Jason suggested for tangs. Heating with the torch is not going to affect anything as long as it stays below 600F. The blade merely needs a heat sink to stay well below 400F. At 500-600F you can do a lot of bending/twisting to the tang safely.
 
I don't have any photos at the moment but the knife was fully quenched. I don't have access to a torch, so I will probably re-temper in the oven clamped in a jig. What kind of torch do you use?
 
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