In my
last post, I described some of the theory behind the heat-treatment process. To show how the theory looks in practice, I thought I'd describe how I go about heat-treating a typical blade. This will be a long post, so I am attaching a PDF that you can print out if you'd like to.
I work with 1084 steel, which is pretty similar to what we've been discussing but isn't widely available. There's one guy who sells it to bladesmith types. It has (you guessed it) .84 percent carbon.
My Tools
My heat-treating equipment is as follows:
- Small forge made out of two refractory bricks, with a JTH7 propane plumber's torch serving as a heat source
- High-temperature thermometer and temperature probe
- A 6" piece of 2" iron pipe
- 1 gallon of specially formulated quenching oil (Parks #50)
- A hot plate from Wal-Mart
- An meat thermometer (the kind with a steel probe)
- A thrift store toaster oven
- Tongs, gloves, miscellaneous tools
You can get by without some of this stuff, but each tool plays an important role. Heat-treating is all about controlling variables. Knowledge is your biggest asset, but better equipment will allow you to put that knowledge to good use.