castlegardener

so...if I am to temper a blade at 500-600 what am I supposed to use to do this? My little toaster oven will only go to 450. Am I supposed to do the tempering in my forge? And if so, how am I going to get it that low of a temperature in the forge and be able to keep it running for an hour? I still have an old brake drum charcoal forge not being used anymore since I now use the propane/firebrick forge. Is the charcoal brake drum forge a better option for the heat tempering?

thanks everyone for the replies...I will change a few things before the next blade

wow..that looks really nice...terrific job

I never would have guessed someone could have drawn out the hammer head so far....very nice indeed...

I don't know anything about the hunting laws or practices but the workmanship looks great...

thanks for the link...those are great photos...thanks Matt

thanks everyone....will try again..

thank you very much...sorry to distract from your sword post...

terrific looking knife

are you drilling holes in the handle for pins?

any idea what the name of the tool store was on Dillingham?

my forge is indeed in bright light, and this metal was super thin...it is a good chance I overheated it....

here is a photo of me holding both pieces between my fingers.

must be just the reflection.

Hello everyone,
I would like to share a photo of a knife I crafted for a friend. The blade is bed frame steel, the handle is bloodwood with polyurethane finish. He requested a black blade. This was my 8th knife I believe.

The blade was quenched in motor oil, and tempered in a toaster oven at 400F for an hour. The rune is carved in the blade with a dremel tool while soft.

thank you Rich...I will reforge the next blade and try again.

terrific looking at every detail.

Hi Steve,
the sword looks incredible. I have just begun bladesmithing on Oahu. Maybe you know where I could find an anvil? Let me know if you need something found on my island.

I guess this should probably have been in the knife section on heat treating...I missed that folder....sorry guys

Hello all,
This is my first real post, and it starts with a problem.

Today I snapped a knife blade in half.

A friend asked for a filet knife so I forged one as thin as I could get it. I am using a propane/firebrick forge. The steel was car leaf spring steel.

I forged the blade. Normalized it twice. Heated it to bright orange, quenched it in motor oil once. Out of the motor oil the blade warped a small amount. I then polished the blade up some, and put it in a toaster oven at 400F for an hour. Once it was finished, I put it back into the oven for 425F for another hour.

I began polishing again and sharpening the blade but still tried to figure out what to do with the warped blade.

I took a small micro butane torch and heated the blade near the warp to a dark brown/ blue thinking it would add flexibility.
I squeezed the blade in a vise but the warp remained. So, I grabbed the blade with two hands and attempted to bend it a little bit and the whole blade snapped in two.

I will attempt to upload a photo, but this is my first attempt at photo uploading.

I have crafted 10 or 11 blades before this but none this thin.

Any help on troubleshooting my work procedures would be greatly appreciated.

Hello everyone.
I just joined the forum and thought I would say hi. I started recently with a brakedrum/charcoal forge and then upgraded to a propane/firebrick forge that I built. I have crafted 10 or 11 knife blades so far and really like the whole process. Almost all my knives are full tang. I have tried forge welding several times and have failed but am still trying.

I live on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. I have begun reading through the forum files and am eagerly soaking up all the great info.

Thanks for having me.

John.