[randydance062449]

Very good post! Thanks for putting this together.

The only observation I have is the "soaking" time. Most of the recommended soak times are for a piece of steel that is one inch thick. Our blades are much thinner so I do not think that we need to soak them that long at critical temp. I am trying to catch mine maybe 30 seconds after the magnetism is gone. I am using 1095 and old files.

I agree on using 400 as a temp for tempering. 350 is not enough.
I temper for one hr, let cool to room temp, then repeat. I have finished one blade using that routine and it is hard but it can be honed.