I'm going to a night class in blacksmithing. The blacksmith asked me to bring scrap steel ( similar to 1070, 1084, 01, W2). I got a batch of old worn out files that i just found out where made out of W2 tool steel.There will be a coal forge, water, oil, magnets.
How would you heat treat it?

Heat treat for what purpose ?   Are you making knives ?  Flint strikers ? Chisels ?

 

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There are many way's to heat treat, all dependent on what you are trying to achieve.   If looking at making knives then those 2 links should help you.   Ton's of material  in the forums that a search should bring up.    Are you sure it's W2 ?  Not all files are made of W2.  

 

-Bruno

Well written text in the links. :) I intent to make knives out of them. My initial thought was to soak it at 1450F for three minutes and then quench it in oil heated to 70F. 

 

I am a noob but it seems reasonable after reading this data:

 

http://www.metalravne.com/selector/steels/OC100EX.html

 

http://www.cintool.com/catalog/Water_Hardening/W2.pdf

 

:)

I am not familiar with the last links you posted but can tell you that the links pointing out heat treat info on Iforge iron are shop proven by knife makers.

The steps for the unknown steel you have in those files are not tough to follow..Do not require high end equipment or metallurgy degrees. In fact they are simple enough for me to do!. 

The biggest thing to do is to test your work, the steps to do that are in the heat treat stickies and in the knife making lessons on this site. 

Testing is proof you have it right,,,or not. To me nothing is more sad than a knife that looks good, feels good and should be a fine knife...and is not due to improper material selected or incorrect heat treat. And I am talking about not only home made but commercial knives as well. 

Just so you may desire to move ahead and grow into this. I would never quench a blade in that temp oil. I am extremely careful with oil temps and check it between each and every blade,,,making adjustments as needed. That may never make sense unless yoiu read the data.