Totally new, so please forgive my ignorance.
I have two older hatchet heads that have been in a fire and were somewhat battered up too, but I have cleaned them up and sharpened and they look great. My worry is, since they were in a fire, how do I know if they are still tempered w/o putting on new handles and cutting a tree? Can I re-temper these? I haven't a forge, but can I heat these in a kitchen oven or maybe in an outside wood "campfire" and quench? I haven't coal, but can I use charcoal? I just hate to put new handles on these hatchet heads and find out they are not tempered or have lost their temper. Any help is appreciated as I am lost....thanks!

hit the blade against a soft piece of metal. annealed steel would be what I would do to start. Concrete tie wire is such. It should cut the wire easy without dulling or bending the blade. As long as what you try to cut is softer than the hardened edge but not so soft as to be softer than steel (un hardened). If your edge deforms on the wire you know it is too soft for use....Try coathanger next.

You could use a file. Depending on the steel, if it files easily, the steel is soft, and you should re-harden them. A campfire will achieve the heat you need, quench in oil, then draw the temper in the oven.

When you say they may have lost their temper it leads me to believe a review of the heat treat stickies may be in order. Simply put if fire softened them they have lost their hardness. After carbon steel is hardened it has to be tempered to reduce brittleness and may it usable for wot it was made for. If thagt steel is further heated it is tempered more,,maybe to the point that it is no longer hard enough for its intended use. Depending on youir agilities to take on a challenge youi may be able to do this youirself using the tiips provvided above. But knowing the steps involved will make it doable. Lots of information in the heat treat areas on this site. If there is a local smith you may see if they can take care of these heads for you..

It the handles burned out they will have lost their temper.

Charcoal was the fuel used by blacksmiths for close to 2000 years before coal was used; however we are talking about real, lump, charcoal and not briquettes. A camp fire and a blow drier *is* a forge and can bring the steel up to critical temperature----easily determined as at critical temperature a magnet will not be attracted to the steel---note you only want to have the cutting edge up to that temperature and the rest of the tool cooler.

Quench in a sizable amount of vegetable oil---used fry oil is fine, a couple of gallons is suggested. Pre warm it to around 140 degF but not above tempering temps. I use a chunk of hot metal on a steel wire to preheat it and a cooking thermometer to judge the temperature. Note than when red hot metal goes into oil it will flame up---use tongs or a long wire and don't jerk the oil container over burning down any structure it's in---happened to someone I know.

After it's cooled in the oil take it out and wipe it down with rags and place in a kitchen over at about 350 for an hour. Season to taste Let it cool and check the hardness. Remember there may be a decarb layer form the heating in the fire and go below it with a file. For a hewing implement you want it to be sharpenable with a new sharp file. If it's too hard place it back in the oven and raise the temp 25 degF. Repeat until happy.

If it was not hard enough you can re harden and try the over at a lower temp, say 300; but in general this would indicate something is wrong.

Biggest help is to go to a local smith and get their assistance. We might be able to suggest someone if we knew your *general* location.

First, I appreciate your input and advice tremendously. I live in Lake Panasoffkee, Florida and have seen a farrier truck or two in the area. Maybe I could ask him if he could and would do it for me. I don't want to put much $$ in this project as the hatchets aren't special, but I would like them to work as intended too.

I think I'll temporarily affix handles to these two and try cutting a metal coathanger on a 2x4. If it cuts with no problem, no nicks or indentations, I should be good to go? And IF it does mess up the edge, I will put both in a campfire trying to heat the cutting portion of the hatchet hotter than the rest until it is (red hot?) and then quench in used cooking oil (I have half a drum of this) that is heated to about 140F. Then once cool, wipe down and heat in my kitchen oven at 350 for an hour and let cool naturally?

Am I on the right track here or should I change my way of thinking? Red hot ok in the fire or something a little different? Thanks again!!

Hot enough that a magnet won't stick to it. Use a metal bucket for the quench. Since getting a localized heat in a campfire is difficult, don't worry too much about having the blade hotter than the body. This temperature is generally a bright red or sunrise orange.

No need to handle them just check with a file---too easy to file => re-harden, then re-temper; too hard to file => re-temper

If you were close I'd say stop by and I wouldn't charge you to do a heat treat run; though offering to chip in for fuel is a nice thing.