Warped Blade

[rimshot]

I am making a knife from an old file. I heated it up red in a bbq, let it cool off slowly in ashes and it bent slightly as it cooled. It is big file, about 18 inches long. Is it possible to straighten this out?
rimshot

 

[KeithH]

like curling a ribbon with scissors, one side changed temperature faster/slower than the other. You could try hammering it on an anvil. (railroad track will do)
good luck!

 

[scottickes]

I am making a knife from an old file. I heated it up red in a bbq, let it cool off slowly in ashes and it bent slightly as it cooled. It is big file, about 18 inches long. Is it possible to straighten this out?
rimshot

Back in the early 90's I was using a lot of file steel to make knives. I would heat them up with a torch to cherry red (I didn't know anything about non-magnetic, etc. at the time) and then put it down into vermiculite and left it there over night. It was a long file that I could get leverage on and I was able to actually bend them by hand. It made me look like some kind of freak strong man. I would probably use to three wood dowels in a vice (two on one side and one on the other side) and crank it tight slowly. This will allow you to get it pretty straight without putting a hammer mark in it.

Ickie

 

[LRB]

Yes you can restraighten it, often by hand. Which ever way you straighten it, re-anneal, or normalize. If you don't, they often go back to the original warp. In my experience.