October 4, 201411 yr Hey guys, I've been reading about the 1080 steel and how to heat treat it. I don't have a propane forge or anything... I've been reading that you need to heat it to 1475 then quench it, then put it in the overly for hour and a half twice at 350... lol sounds like a casserole. How am I supposed to know how hot it is?? Better yet how do I make a fire that's even that hot? I saw a guy on one video use a charcoal grill and basically put a hair dryer on the side and blew air into it. Also read just heat it up until it is non magnetic then quench and it should be fine.... am I on the right track here? What is the best way to get it hot without a forge? Thanks Matt
October 4, 201411 yr If you read the pinned thread here on heat treating you will know. I am too lazy to type all that again.,
October 9, 201411 yr Yes sir you are on the right track. I've never used it to heat steel with but Cowboy Charcoal gets really hot and may do the trick. Its a natural wood charcoal for grilling. Get your self a brake drum to use as a forge, hairdryers will work fine to get you started, but I don't imagine they are up to the task of being a full time forge blowers. Or you can check out this link. http://www.msforgecouncil.com. It's a blacksmiths club based out of Mississippi. The club I am in in Florida has an annual meeting complete with classes, tail-gate sales, and demonstrators. Monthly meetings too. Great resource.
October 22, 201411 yr To get that hot: '?do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>> A basic first forge. You can cobble this together in an hour or so if you've got parts. Or build one in a lawnmower deck. Or make a brake drum forge. Lots of variants. Many of us here started with a literal hole in the ground, and a sideblast using a hair dryer through a pipe or something similar. To know when you're above magnetic, generally, while you have a good grip on your material, momentarily apply a magnet. If it doesn't stick........... To do it without a forge? A torch. Oxy-acetlyene, or I suppose you could use mapp gas. But you'll have to be very careful, as it can be difficult to get an even heat, or avoid melting the blade. Probably need a firebrick as a backstop. If you don't have both already, at this point I'd just go ahead and build even a crude forge, as it's not much difference in the work, and easier to control. It will help a lot to hook up with a blacksmithing group in your area. Massively speed up your learning curve, and hopefully prevent things like quenching in the wrong medium and breaking what your trying to harden, or getting a warp in it.
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