Krown Kustoms Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 At what point (grit) do you guys stop polishing at before final tempering? I have been working on a little keltic style axe and think I went too far and wasted some time. I didnt plan on a perfect finish but I want a reflection on this one. I am at 600 grit now. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pike3e Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 I heat treat high carbon steel at 120 grit then go back to 60 after ht to grind to the final geometry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 You said tempering..the colors from that will clean off fairly easy...If you happen to mean the hardening process, that will leave a layer of surface oxide that will have to be sanded or ground away....You temper after hardening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krown Kustoms Posted May 7, 2014 Author Share Posted May 7, 2014 Hardening and tempering. I went to 600 before hardening. I Hardened and tempered yesterday and did waste a lot of time. I had to go back to a 120 grit belt then hand sanded up to a 600. I tempered to a dark straw at blade and bluish at base then sanded with a fine grit sponge then hand sanded all the way to 1000. I guess I answered my question of it being a waste of time but I was wondering what everyone sands to before hardening. next one I will go to 120 then heat treat far less elbow work. The last hatchet I didnt sand much before heat treat but took a lot of sanding to look good. Went too far on this one. trial and error I guess Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJergensen Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 It wasn't a waste of time. You learned not to go to 600 grit in the future ;-). Even 120 before heat treatment is likely overkill. You might find some disagreement there, but you would be hard-pressed to find someone suggesting going beyond 120 before HT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 A lot depends on your heat treat process. You definitely do not want any deep coarse scratches around for fractures to start; OTOH if you use salt pots or inert atmosphere systems you may get very little oxidation at all. I've even had fairly good luck turning my forges into muffle furnaces and heating in a close ended tube with a layer of powdered charcoal along the bottom of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 It wasn't a waste of time. You learned not to go to 600 grit in the future ;-). Even 120 before heat treatment is likely overkill. You might find some disagreement there, but you would be hard-pressed to find someone suggesting going beyond 120 before HT. I will disagree, as Thomas states, the grind lines are fracture points for heat treat. and in blade sections we need to think of those things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krown Kustoms Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Here is what I came up with. I decided to try my hand at salt water etching too. Then put same pattern on handle while staining it. Its not too usable due to the eye being so thin. I probably going to put it in a shaddow box and hang it in the office. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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