jason hawk Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 hey everybody, i'm new to the forum and new to the art of bladesmithing, although i have been a metal sculptor for many years. after reading many bits of info from many sources i'm confused. i'm trying to make a blade from an old file and i can't figure out the proper way to temper/heat treat it. do people use the oxide film color spectrum method (as one might use when blacksmithing a chisel for example) or is the best way to heat it in the oven. if using the oven method is any further quenching done? sorry for my ignorance, but you all seem to know whats up and any insight would be greatly appreciated. cheers! -J- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 welcome to the site, and I already wrote out your answer in the Sticky's here in the knife heat treat section Dont forget to post photos of your finished blade, we all love pic's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason hawk Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 welcome to the site, and I already wrote out your answer in the Sticky's here in the knife heat treat section Dont forget to post photos of your finished blade, we all love pic's thanks for gettin back to me steve. i'm a bit embarrassed to say that not only am i new to bladesmithing but this is my first forum... i have no idea what a sticky is or where to find it... a thousand apologies for my complete lack of internet/bladesmithing know-how. and yes i will most certainly post pics. thanks again steve. jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason hawk Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 welcome to the site, and I already wrote out your answer in the Sticky's here in the knife heat treat section Dont forget to post photos of your finished blade, we all love pic's you know, i think i found the sticky (naturally right in front of my nose (remember: first forum)). the question i have now is this. the place where my forge is located is about an hour away from an oven i can use. any advise on getting a blade to keep from cracking in the time it takes me to get to the oven? cheers jason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 At least I can say you have a better reason for not reading it that most have in the past. LOL the term sticky is used simply because the article was tagged to make it "stick" to the top of the listings, for easy locating. Since you are a long distance away from the oven you should come up with other methods, the simplest is a stress relieving temper by conduction, meaning after you harden; allow that to cool while you heat up another section of metal, rest the back of the spine of the blade against it and allow the oxide colors to run up the edge till you get desired color (nearing light straw) near the cutting edge. then cool this off before it goes "too far" with a fast quench to stop the colors from running further. This should prevent stress cracking before you get to the oven for your temper cycle. also most advocate more than one temper cycle anyway. No reason to Apologize for just starting, we all were beginners at some point, asking is how we learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son_of_bluegrass Posted January 14, 2010 Share Posted January 14, 2010 you know, i think i found the sticky (naturally right in front of my nose (remember: first forum)). the question i have now is this. the place where my forge is located is about an hour away from an oven i can use. any advise on getting a blade to keep from cracking in the time it takes me to get to the oven? cheers jason It probably won't. I regularly wait over night or a few days between quenching and tempering without problems. Some people think I've been lucky or that my methods (being very primitive) may not get to full hardness. ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason hawk Posted January 16, 2010 Author Share Posted January 16, 2010 here is the finished blade, being my first knife there are many thing i will do differently but by and large i'm pleased Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian.pierson Posted January 16, 2010 Share Posted January 16, 2010 here is the finished blade, being my first knife there are many thing i will do differently but by and large i'm pleased Nice looking knife. For your first you should be pleased. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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