Kendall P Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Recentally ive been making very fine small letter openers out of some old files ive had, the steel is good high carbon tool, and im able to de-magnatise and quench in oil, but tempering is proving a bugger (ive tempered over a fire useing the colour changes to guide me and lost some nice blades in the process when they have snapped in the stress tests), ive heard that useing an oven can make for a very accurate stress free temper, what time and temp would i need to bake these quenched blades to get a nice temper? I dont need super exact science or the ask a question to my question, its small couple mill thick 1/4 inch wide tool steel thats oil quenched looking for a nice even temper in the oven, can anyone throw me up some nice temps and times so that the knives come out nice and cooked? thank you for your patience and time! Paul K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Since you specifically asked not to answer your question with a question let me take a stab at this: A lot of folks have spent a lot of time typing well researched information on this very subject. They spent this time ( I believe) so that anyone seeking information would have a lot better source of information that can be given by someone typing a readers digest short version in each of these boxes in response to a question.To give you a quick and dirty number in my opinion is a disservice to not only you but to any other folks that have a similiar question that reads this. I have done exactly wot you have done including the failed test. My one sided feeling on this are a direct result of past questions that were answered at the expense of time invested by a lot of folks on here and almost always leads to further questions that come up after the short answer falls short. So now that I have vented and feel better about the day you can do a couple of things,,,,continue to try different time and temps,, read all of the information on here that is related to your question, or maybe you best choice, wait a few minutes and someone will give you numbers you can try,,,interested in seeing if they work out,,keep us posted and a pic or two if you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son_of_bluegrass Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 You could temper anything from 325 F for a very hard blade to 550 F or so for a springy blade. An hour is what I consider minimum but many people go with 2 or 3 one hour cycles, although you could get away with long enough to heat throughly (maybe 20 minutes). To get more specific than that would require more knowledge on what exactly you want and that requires answering you question with a question. You could read the stickies on heat treating here http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/56-knife-stickies-here/ That may provide you with enough information to answer your own question. ron There I did it without asking a question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 If you refuse to allow us to ask you questions.. then I cant help you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall P Posted May 16, 2012 Author Share Posted May 16, 2012 You could temper anything from 325 F for a very hard blade to 550 F or so for a springy blade. An hour is what I consider minimum but many people go with 2 or 3 one hour cycles, although you could get away with long enough to heat throughly (maybe 20 minutes). To get more specific than that would require more knowledge on what exactly you want and that requires answering you question with a question. You could read the stickies on heat treating herehttp://www.iforgeiro...-stickies-here/ That may provide you with enough information to answer your own question. ron There I did it without asking a question. THANKYOU SOOOOOO MUCH - somtimes its so difficult to get a quick answer here without being told to go re-read the entire forums or playing the 20 question game. Apologies to everyone who got very angry by my blunt question, just looking for some quick info to point me in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 For a letter opener I would not harden at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall P Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 Since you specifically asked not to answer your question with a question let me take a stab at this: A lot of folks have spent a lot of time typing well researched information on this very subject. They spent this time ( I believe) so that anyone seeking information would have a lot better source of information that can be given by someone typing a readers digest short version in each of these boxes in response to a question.To give you a quick and dirty number in my opinion is a disservice to not only you but to any other folks that have a similiar question that reads this. I have done exactly wot you have done including the failed test. My one sided feeling on this are a direct result of past questions that were answered at the expense of time invested by a lot of folks on here and almost always leads to further questions that come up after the short answer falls short. So now that I have vented and feel better about the day you can do a couple of things,,,,continue to try different time and temps,, read all of the information on here that is related to your question, or maybe you best choice, wait a few minutes and someone will give you numbers you can try,,,interested in seeing if they work out,,keep us posted and a pic or two if you wish. Thankyou for your advice sir, It's certainly not that im trying to impatiently swat away solid advice, after the first broke i took a day to do more research, but thought it might help to pop a quick question down in the ifi forums, mostly because ill get back some interesting answers that build toward my understanding. I respect and admire many of the regs who take the time to help others when they ask questions and understand completely when they feel that a quick answer wont help. "Learn by doing" as they say, sometimes its just nice to be told roughly what i need to be doing :P The letter opener turned out really nice, tempered up a treat and the handle was my first pinned handle. ill post a quick pic to follow. Have an awsome day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendall P Posted May 17, 2012 Author Share Posted May 17, 2012 For a letter opener I would not harden at all! I am tempering any blade at the moment to further my understanding of how to correctly temper and what works best for the steel im working with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whirly Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Good for you Kendall, keep asking the questions. There are a lot of experienced people on here who can help you get to where you want to be. Not all of them have forgotten that they too were once learners...however, as the man in the long coat with the sword has pointed out, it's good to start with reading the 'Stickies' at the start of each section. A heap of good info has been put in those and most times the answer will be in there, saving you from asking the 'Stupid' question (BTW, there's no such thing) and getting some folk frothing at the mouth. Personally, if I can't add a helpful comment, then I don't usually comment. There's also PM to members. I've contacted clever, experienced folk on here to ask for straight forward answers and have recieved helpful, easy to understand answers that I can then apply to what I'm trying to achieve. Keep up the good work Mate. If a person is trying to learn and isn't, then the teacher is at fault......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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