Swedish torch as forge?

J

Jack_Daniels

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Sep 28, 2011
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ok so this is just to anneal a steel blank But i wanted to know if you guys thought it would work. this obviously wouldn't be a very big knife but isn't my first project and i'm not making a big knife. the steel is 1095. bought a 1/4in thick bar and have a shape i want to make but the steel is hard and would take 3 times as long with hand tools to make as such. so do you think a 2ft by 1ft log made into a swedish torch would make enough heat (maybe put some coals on top) just to soften up the steel for working?

and yes used search only found one post and it was just about making one.
 
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I'm not an expert, but as far as I know that 1095 is as soft as it's going to get already. Unless it has been hardened before it should not need to be annealed.
 
Almost surely won't work. The whole point of a Swedish torch (Log Burner) is a small cooking flame.
 
I think it might get hot enough down inside, but you wouldn't have any control over it, couldn’t see it and it probably wouldn't heat evenly. it would just be crap shoot. The heat is only part of it.

I think you'd be better off with a bed of coals and something to fan it with.
 
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Jack Daniels would have more luck using the direction for annealing a file as given in the sticky How to Make a Knife from a File.

From the sticky:
"To anneal a file, it has to be heated to above 1350°F. The way to know it is that hot is that a magnet stops sticking to steel at that temperature. Use a torch to evenly heat the file, and when a magnet stops sticking to the metal, try and keep it at that color red, or a tad more red, for about two or three minutes. Once “soaked” at 1350-1450°F, it is allowed to cool off in the air until the red color is just about gone. Lowering the lights can help with seeing this. At the last dull red glow, quench the file in a gallon or two of canola oil. This will leave the file in a softened state. Check it with a good file, and it should be easily filed. If that works, the steel is annealed and ready to be cut, ground, filed, sanded, etc. into a knife. We will stop here for this process, as it is the same for any knife making. See the sticky, “How to Instructions for Making a Knife”.
A word on annealing - You often see suggestions to heat the file in a camp fire, BBQ grill, or with a torch, and then to bury it in ashes or vermiculite overnight. That will anneal a lower carbon steel just fine. But, for a high carbon file, it can create a hard form of pearlite that will give you problems later. The oil quench after the steel is cooled down to about 900°F is a much better method for higher carbon content steels. Save the canola oil to use again when re-hardening the blade in HT."

- Paul Meske
 
Jack_Daniels said:
ok so this is just to anneal a steel blank But i wanted to know if you guys thought it would work. this obviously wouldn't be a very big knife but isn't my first project and i'm not making a big knife. the steel is 1095. bought a 1/4in thick bar and have a shape i want to make but the steel is hard and would take 3 times as long with hand tools to make as such. so do you think a 2ft by 1ft log made into a swedish torch would make enough heat (maybe put some coals on top) just to soften up the steel for working?
Click to expand...

You're correct, if the steel isn't hardened then there should be no need to anneal the steel. Yet that is what you seem to be asking about unless I'm reading it wrong.

- Paul Meske
 
sorry but i was under the assumption that my flat stock was not fully softened.

and lonepine while that shot you took with the file knife making post seems smart it's not cause my primary question was would a swedish torch work. you point out where in that topic that i have read multiple times and have found very educational and i will stop posting here otherwise stop being a jerk just to get a post in a topic.
 
Lonepine was simply trying to help. That sticky was also my initial thought reading this post, but it should arrive in a ready to work state.

Good luck, and post some pictures of your final work.
 
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