ratt Posted February 23, 2010 Share Posted February 23, 2010 I have just recently started teaching myself how to forge.I am disabled and poor so I have begged , borrowed and stoled enough to build a coal forge. I made a knife blade out of a 3/8th allen wrench. boy I had it looking good I heated it and quinchted it in warm water. It cracked please be kind I am new at this thanks ratt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 If you live in the USA you should be able to go to the local public library and ILL "The Complete Bladesmith" by Hrisoulas for free or a nominal sum. (here in central NM they charge me US$1) Reading that will help you a WHOLE lot! Basically you most likely had a forging flaw, (working too hot or too cold), A finishing flaw, (coarse scratches in the surface when quenched) or were forging an alloy that need to be oil quenched rather than water quenched. Note that it is a a lot more fun to know this *beforehand* than to waste time effort and money figuring it out by trial and error and questions on the net... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don A Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 To second what Thomas said, water is considered a violent quenchant for thin pieces. It's risky even for water quench steels in thin section if you don't know what you're doing. Go with warm oil... vegatable oil is fine; clean transmission fluid is good too. You apparently have access to a computer, so spend some time reading and pay attention to what you read. Iforge (of course), Don Fogg's forum, Primal Fires, British Blades, etc., etc... there's more good FREE information available than you will get through in years. Soak it up and apply it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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