Micro tools Heat Treating

[Zrognak]

Wanted to ask a question on how to heat treat really small tools,  im making myself some jewelry wax carving tools the metal part that sticks out of the handle are at 1 to 3 cm long, some are 0.3mm and others are 1-3 mm thickness, I could take a picture of em but they are in the oven for tempering right now, just hope I didn't mess everything up, reason im asking. I used 1095 for the tools that are smaller and need to be flexible and O1 tool steel for the thicker pieces chisels and such, I used a propane torch to heat them up before quenching  in oil, then im tempering at 300 celsius. was really careful and heated the thicker parts first before getting a even heat of each piece.

I never heat treated these small pieces before and was wondering if maybe it would have been better to air quench or what ever it is called, Im used to doing larged pieces like knives and chisels for wood but these are so small.

If i messed em all up ill make new ones.

[Frosty]

Welcome aboard Zrognak, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance. Have you done any reading in the blade making and heat treatment sections of IFI? I'm not a bladesmith guy but know a bit about the skill sets. There are posts written by some of the best blade makers alive today archived here.

I've made a few wax carving blades, mostly hook knives, recently for a project I got myself talked into. I used some small coil springs I salvaged. The wire is probably 2 mm. and I heat treated like a spring. critical temp, warm oil quench, drew temper to purple verging on blue. I'm still experimenting across the board, not only am I not a bladesmith guy, I'm discovering I lack talent as a wax carver. I'm sculpting a pattern to cast a raven pommel for a long seax. Yeah, I know a guard and pommel aren't really seax furniture but I'm not going to present a blade you can slide your hand down the blade without trying. 

Sorry about the side track, it's a TBI thing and I never did have a good off switch.

Pics of your blades would be nice.

Frosty The Lucky.

[ThomasPowers]

Theophilus mentioned quenching graver ends in solid wax---about 1120 CE

[Steve Sells]

300c/730F is going to be a problem with blue embrittlement,  that is much too high a temp for anything good from 1095 or O1  where did you get that temperature from ?

[Zrognak]

1 hour ago, Frosty said:

 

Doubt anyone live next to the arctic circle in the northern parts of Sweden. Im not a professional myself, I do blacksmithing as a hobby, mostly as said done bigger things like knives and larger tools for carpentry, Im starting school for silversmiths in august so I needed some wax tools for wax carving, but yea see a lot of good information on the forums, reason I signed up cause It seems like the best place to get answers. 

 

Its all good man, good luck with your seax I really love to see you finish it let me know when you do cause love those types of blades.

38 minutes ago, ThomasPowers said:

Theophilus mentioned quenching graver ends in solid wax---about 1120 CE

Interesting, thank you for sharing.

36 minutes ago, Steve Sells said:

300c/730F is going to be a problem with blue embrittlement,  that is much too high a temp for anything good from 1095 or O1  where did you get that temperature from ?

Not a professional here, its what I have always used If i want more springiness(is that a word, anyway) from my tools, never heard of blue embrittlement before, to be fair it was more purple-ish in color when i took it out of the oven, had the tools pieces covered in sand. But like i said not a professional reason i came here, so thank you for sharing your knowledge, would 200c been better?

They turned out ok though from what i seen so far, they skate files and they flex like a spring, but we will see if they will break, since im using these myself im not worried about that. But I want to improve if they do break, so any tips are always welcome cause I want to become better. I know I will use these to carve wax so they wont have much strain on em but still want to make the best I can. Like I said not a professional but Ill get there eventually.

 

 

here are some pictures

Sorry 2nd pic is a bit blurry, but its for size referance.

 

[Frosty]

You underestimate of how widely the Iforge gang is spread, we have a number of Swedish members. If you put your location in the header one might look you up. For good reasons I trust. 

You want to listen to Steve, he knows what he's talking about. There's probably a tempering chart in the heat treat section.

Frosty The Lucky.

[Zrognak]

I see that is cool, well i always listen to anyone who has knowledge to share so its all good.