I want to heat treat axe  in oill then in oven but i have problem with convincing  folks around me that it will be ok having oven for 2 hours at certain degrees  temperature.
I can quench it in oil then temper in oven.-

Second option is to do it old way with water, get it to red non magnetic, then quench in water for 1-3 seconds then again take it out of water and "chase" colors wich come first and quench it completly

What you suggest me.

Previously i have  bad luck with it i leave weak axe temper maybe blue one, because iam afraid since iam working with water that i will quench it too much and it stay too much soft , i was afaraid it will be brittle and it become soft, then again i have to repeat proces.

Isues with this method is i cant scrap it shiny after i want to see colors clearly.
Any tips. I know how proces goes "old way" but i dont know when colors begin, do i wait for them too much, or i miss them second time i want to temper it.

Old blacksmith whom i went (he can't work now) showed me he do all in one heat,  quenching and tempering, first he quench as i said  after red heat 2-3 seconds , then he temper axe.

 

Looks like no real bladesmiths want to say, or they're just plain busy. So here goes.

Do you know what kind of steel it's made of? 

If it won't harden in oil you need to use water.

The important test I'm thinking of right now is to test to see if the steel hardened in the quench. Run a new fine tooth file across the edge, it should skate. Slide without cutting into the steel though it WILL clean the forge scale in the process.

If you want to harden and temper in one operation use a sharpening stone to shine the edge so you can see the temper colors run. This is pretty easy and a good thing to use a broken sharpening stone for. 

Last tip is to test the steel before you heat treat the axe.

If you have some left over pieces of this steel cut and grind some coupons to test. Make them all the same, say 2mm x 15mm x 30mm. This will let you test each method on consistent sample and keep notes on what you try with each. That way you can determine what works best if that alloy of steel can be hardened at all. Some modern steel alloys don't work like the old simple steels I had when I was a kid let alone my Father and Grandfathers.

Make sense?

Frosty The Lucky.

You can also temper by gently heating the bit to a purple or blue (or whatever color you're looking for) with a propane plumber's torch or over a hot block of steel.  That gives you more control than using retained heat, but still leaves the oven for lasagna.

Wll frosty i cant cut guys axe bit by bit, its old axe. I think i would try that method that you mentioned before but axe by itself is pretty ruined i mean he crooked eye of it, i dont know what to  straighten eye or blade before .
Well file test it can bite but hard. I noticed its good steel. And before those i had 4 axes i only fitted on axe handle and tested them with files.

Before i had issues ruined three axes with tempering, tempered them to blue color. or went by luck. one was mine axe, and other was from one coworker, and third from my neighbour. i fixed neighbour axe (i hope i did) second time by chasin straw yelowish color before that it was blue.
Ruined my small axe i can now file on it realy easy it is soft and dont bite in wood like it used to.
So this new customer my coworker wanted me to fix his, i tought quenching in oil but i wont do that, heard i can put too much preassure on electrical instalations 420 degrees farenhait or celsius 200 is too much to be 2 hours on.

Mike i dont have propane torch i could heat block steel.

Thing is from old smith I learned from them that they doo all in one heat and they quench in water. i never dared to quench axe too britle. i reather make it soft and useless like that then for it to break.

That's what old smith told me, its better to rasahape it back then having it broke by someone, but mine were too soft , couldn't bite in wood and couldn't  hold edge, and maybe i changed bevel but thats different topic.

 

Okay, if you can get the file to skate then temper it back to straw/purple on the edge. If you can't make a file skate quenching in water try raising the hardening temperature a LITTLE BIT, say from red to medium red, etc. When you draw the temper back I don't think you want it straw, but Dark straw is probably as hard as I'd make it. Dark straw / Purple is what I've had success with before. Bear in mind I don't know what the difference between the steel I had and you have. 

Remember though, you don't want the entire axe head that hard, drawing it back till it is just starting to show blue and chill it. That should "HOPEFULLY" leave the edge hard enough to bite wood without being brittle and the body with enough stiffness to not bend easily. Do you cross your fingers for luck in Bosnia?

I'm thinking a bending wrench and vise might be a good way to straighten the bent axe. I assume you're familiar with pipe wrenches though using one will leave cuts in the axe eye from wrench's teeth. So iv you can come up with something similar that fits in the pol end of the eye and holds the pol tightly. Similar to slipping a pipe wrench into the eye and closing it snug. Make sense?

Inserting the axe blade in a vise or clamping it to a steel bench so you can use the bending wrench might let you straighten it without heat. If you have a torch you'll be able to heat it exactly where you want it to bend. BE CAREFUL how much force you put on the blade if you try this cold!

If you need to heat it in the forge move fast between forge and vise.

Frosty The Lucky.

The real answer is; It All Depends.

It depends on what kind of steel it is. It depends on how Hot your Forge is. It depends on how you  Harden and Temper it. It depends if the Handle is in place or not......

I have found that if you Temper to Blue, you have a very soft blade. I prefer to Straw colour. But it all depends.......

Neil

If it won't harden at all in oil, you may have to use water. It depends on the steel. You can tell in a hurry if it's hard by running a file along it right after quenching. Should sound scritchy - like it's sliding over glass. If I have mystery steel and can't use a test coupon, I'll normalize, then quench in oil. If it doesn't harden, repeat with water. If it still doesn't harden then use brine. If it still doesn't harden - forget it, it's low carbon and will only ever harden a little, usually by using "super quench", basically brine with a surfactant.

Doesn't matter what color you temper it to if it never gets hard in the first place. For tools with an eye, I like it softer around the eye, and harder at the working edges, usually straw or bronze. Blue for any part that gets struck or hammered.

Frosty they old blacksmith never used here at my place oil only water, and they are best know for it.

He explained  me , he beat axe like one inch red , then he  dunk it in water for 2.3 seconds max then he take it out, and whole heat come from axe to that place and you can see colors I saw them.

Maybe I made mistake before I Didint cleaned axe right when I took it from forge 

I was afraid I would use heat , then I dunk it fast , and when I take axe out I can't see colors clearly.

So I went by "time"  guessed , and there is trick he used with old ragg , he "freeze"  color with it , and next he wait other colors, then dunk axe.

Swed.

You have right blue is too soft I have experience too.

Well my forge is decent to hear steel even forge weld when I want and have to

Monday special well I tested it now while it's cold with steel and banged it with hammer sound like decent piece 

Clean it after it comes out of the quench, not the forge. A quick wire brushing to remove scale before quenching is beneficial but if you move quickly from forge to quench scale doesn't have time to form enough to effect the quench.

As soon as you pull the blade from the quench clean it with the sharpening stone and watch the temper colors run. When the edge is the desired color put it back in the quench tank.

The only thing you need to move fast for is the edge itself, you can lower the remainder of the axe head more slowly so the water cools it more slowly and the whole axe won't be hard.

Frosty The Lucky.

I have wet stone i hope it would help, but i saw them scrub it with file.

After they are done diping in water in first heat, idk man they were doing it all time and no complains just he said me later  (he is ill now and can't forge) small hatchet you go for straw yelowish temper but for big axes use blue color.

 

That sounds right.

Frosty The Lucky.