TEMPERING

[Pendexter]

Congratulations for finishing your first knife.

It suffers from BHS - blocky handle syndrome. On the next one ( or on this one) round the handle more at the corners so the cross section is more oval.
Also, those little tits of wood going down at the ricasso may snap off in use. Best to avoid sudden downturns against the grain.

Thank you for the feedback! I created another thread becuase I didnt' want to hijack this one. Please take a look and let me know if it needs more rounding. I tried to round out the tit a little bit, but I'm not sure what I can do about it at this point.

https://bladeforums.com/threads/wood-handle-curing-blocky-handle-syndrome.1639311/

This is the knife I am working on, my latest temper which scares me. .

Good looking blade!

The coloring doesn't look that different than the one I posted a few posts up. What I did after tempering was sharpen the knife to see how it behaved. Then whittled and batoned to see if the edge would chip or roll.

Based on the sharpening, you should be able to tell if the steel is too soft if you're able to sharpen the knife faster than normal. Then with the whittling and batoning, you can see if it's chipping, which would indicate that it may be too hard.

No reason to go through the entire process of sanding, finishing, putting on scales, etc. only to find out that the temper isn't to your satisfaction.

Once the epoxy is on the handle, it won't be easy to change the temper without affecting the epoxy bond.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Looks much better.

 

[Flagg]

I

Thank you for the feedback! I created another thread becuase I didnt' want to hijack this one. Please take a look and let me know if it needs more rounding. I tried to round out the tit a little bit, but I'm not sure what I can do about it at this point.

https://bladeforums.com/threads/wood-handle-curing-blocky-handle-syndrome.1639311/



Good looking blade!

The coloring doesn't look that different than the one I posted a few posts up. What I did after tempering was sharpen the knife to see how it behaved. Then whittled and batoned to see if the edge would chip or roll.

Based on the sharpening, you should be able to tell if the steel is too soft if you're able to sharpen the knife faster than normal. Then with the whittling and batoning, you can see if it's chipping, which would indicate that it may be too hard.

No reason to go through the entire process of sanding, finishing, putting on scales, etc. only to find out that the temper isn't to your satisfaction.

Once the epoxy is on the handle, it won't be easy to change the temper without affecting the epoxy bond.

I am very grateful for your help and indeed the help of other members, it makes a big difference to a relative newbee.

Unfortunately I have already riveted some brass bits on my handles but will still try it on some hardwood which my son scrounged for me and bear it in mind on my next knife.

Thank you

Flagg

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Many new makers are afraid to scrap a handle in order to refinish/regrind a blade or re-harden/re-temper. Remember that a few pieces of wood and brass aren't worth more than a better knife. You can often drill out the rivets, or just break off the handle by splitting the scales with a chisel.

Your profile doesn't say where you live. If you are in the US, I'll send you some nice handle scales for your next knife..

 

[Flagg]

Many new makers are afraid to scrap a handle in order to refinish/regrind a blade or re-harden/re-temper. Remember that a few pieces of wood and brass aren't worth more than a better knife. You can often drill out the rivets, or just break off the handle by splitting the scales with a chisel.

Your profile doesn't say where you live. If you are in the US, I'll send you some nice handle scales for your next knife..

Younger quite right in that which you say, I take note of all help from this forum.

I live in leafy Warwickshire. UK, thank you for your offer from 1000s of miles away.
I am OK for scales, greying brass here is not easy unless you work in the engineering industry then you can get virtually anything

The DIY knife making here is very small and the cops are strict because of the black knife crime here.

I hope to finish this knife this week.

 

[Flagg]

I also make country style walking sticks which I also sell for my favourite charity, a lot cheaper than making knives, still enjoyable, every £ counts.

 

[Natlek]

As to colors, those charts are not related to oven tempering over time. They are for flame and heat hardening steel while you watch the colors form and walk.
The colors from tempering blades in an oven for an hour or two mean absolutely nothing. They are the result of the oils and other contaminants on the surface. You might see a bronze color, a rusty brown, or a peacock cloud of magenta and purple .... they are both no indication of hardness ot oven temperature.

They are the result of the oils and other contaminants on the surface.....?? No OIL on my blade when I temper them Stacy , so from where come color ???? AIR + hot steel = surface oxide =Color Second one file from top is only one not clean before temper and you can not see any color on surface .......only on edge side where I grind to shape ? Impurity on surface has prevented steel from forming oxide ...color ???

Why I always get same color on given tempering temperature , no matter which the steel is?
Bottom one is spring steel , tempered on 220 Celsius . Rest are file tempered on 250 Celsius .Second one from top is not cleaned before tempering so that blue color is visible only on part of file where I grind it to shape ...... And why I always get clear constant ONE color , gold or blue no mater ? Why I never get that rainbow.I don t do anything special to clean them before tempering ...?

This stainless blade I intentionally overheated ...and looking in that rainbow is clear where the temperature was the highest ?

 

[Flagg]

Is this correct for tempering, this is my interpretation also told to me by forum experts?
If i insert my 1080+ blades into my electric oven for the recommended 2 x 1 hour cycles at 400 degrees, incidentally my oven temperatures are as useless as tits on a bull, miles too hight so I bought a independent thermometer and set it with that.
After the cycle is completed should the temper be close to the spec irrespective of colours using this method?

This seems simple, like me.

Thank you all.

 

[Natlek]

I didn t mention that my kitchen oven is convection oven.I use that feature when I temper steel .Maybe that s why I get even color ?? I check temperature in my oven with very , very expensive and precise temperature measurement device . . ..