Hi guys
Robert and Phyl, I'm glad you guys asked questions!!!
I know this is posted in the "collectors' forum" but many of the guys who hang out in here are almost as interested in the tiny little details of construction as other makers are. A well informed buyer makes smarter purchases!
The
quick answer to both of you is: I just didn't get all of my steps photographed and sent to Lorien.
I also could have sent Lorien more detailed captions for these... it's just that I have about 300 photos on my computer at this point and it gets kind of confusing which ones are worth editing/sending and which are not.
So here's what I did to it. (I'll try to answer what both Robert and Phyl asked with this)
I forge welded the billet somewhere around 2300F. I used to have a temp gauge in the forge but it quit working and I just haven't replaced it. But I've done it enough times to have a pretty good idea where it's at.
Before forging the main billet down to barstock, I do a couple normalizing cycles on it.
Forging temp for the blade? HOT... lol. I start hot (up around 2000F) for things like knocking the point down, and then I just keep forging at a lower heat as I go.
I like to do most of my real rough grinding prior to going into the salt bath because the scale will really do a number on the salt. The salt will eat the scale right off the blade which seems nice, but it will then cause all kinds of nasty decarb on the next blade you put it in the salt.
So this blade was forged to shape, and then I ran a higher temp range normalizing cycle that's more or a "stress relief" up around 1600-1700F. In my experience, that will help alleviate any of the nasty stress that may be left over from forging, but it does not refine the grain.
Then after it cooled to black, I stuck it in the Paragon at 1450 for about 15 minutes. This left it plenty soft to grind and drill the tang hole (for the wire) but not neccessarrily in great shape.
So once it was all rough ground, I did set of descending temp thermal cycles in the salt. The first one was 1700, take it out and cool to black, 1600 ctb, 1500 ctb, and 1400 ctb (three times on the 1400).
Then I ramp the salt back up to 1450, hung the blade in there and let the quench oil heat up while also letting the blade soak at temperature for 15 minutes.
THEN I pull the blade out and quench it. I don't quench it before then at all.
I left the blade in the tempering kiln for 1 hour at 400, took it out and let it cool to room temp, and then repeated the process. When I did the Rockwell test and it was too hard, I upped the temp to 450F. and tempered it three more times. I don't know that 3 are required, in fact I think two is plenty, but it's just a little time in the oven and requires almost zero work on my part.... so other than the time it takes, I figure, "what can it hurt?"
Hope this helps!
