Straight Razor Place Forums - View Single Post - My Heat-Treating Process

JoshEarl · 07-13-2008, 11:24 PM

The Process
After I've forged a blade blank to shape and ground it close to its final dimensions on my belt grinder, I'm ready to heat-treat it. Heat-treating is the most important step in making a blade. The grinding and polishing won't matter much if the steel is poorly heat-treated.

I get everything set up before I start messing with hot steel. First, I put the iron pipe inside my forge. (It acts as a diffuser for the intense heat of the fire, protecting the blade and allowing it to heat more evenly.) Then I light the torch and crank open the propane a bit. It'll take a few minutes to get up to temperature. I get out my thermometer and high-temp probe and put the tip of the probe into the pipe. Now I can control the temperature in the pipe by manipulating the propane flow, and the thermometer will tell me how I'm doing.

I then set up the hot plate on the floor near my forge, with my container of Parks #50 quenching oil on the burner. I put the meat thermometer in the oil and turn on the hot plate. This preheats the oil to 130 degrees F, which works well for the steel I'm using.

I set up my toaster oven on the work bench and set it for 400 F. I also like to put some newspapers down on the shop floor to catch oil drips.

Once everything is set up and the forge has reached about 1500 F, the fun begins.

07-13-2008, 11:24 PM	#2 (permalink)
JoshEarl Status: Moderator, Razorsmith Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Western Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 2,575 Thanks: 5 Thanked 115 Times in 43 Posts	The Process After I've forged a blade blank to shape and ground it close to its final dimensions on my belt grinder, I'm ready to heat-treat it. Heat-treating is the most important step in making a blade. The grinding and polishing won't matter much if the steel is poorly heat-treated. I get everything set up before I start messing with hot steel. First, I put the iron pipe inside my forge. (It acts as a diffuser for the intense heat of the fire, protecting the blade and allowing it to heat more evenly.) Then I light the torch and crank open the propane a bit. It'll take a few minutes to get up to temperature. I get out my thermometer and high-temp probe and put the tip of the probe into the pipe. Now I can control the temperature in the pipe by manipulating the propane flow, and the thermometer will tell me how I'm doing. I then set up the hot plate on the floor near my forge, with my container of Parks #50 quenching oil on the burner. I put the meat thermometer in the oil and turn on the hot plate. This preheats the oil to 130 degrees F, which works well for the steel I'm using. I set up my toaster oven on the work bench and set it for 400 F. I also like to put some newspapers down on the shop floor to catch oil drips. Once everything is set up and the forge has reached about 1500 F, the fun begins. __________________ Please e-mail me with questions; I have PMs disabled for the time being.