E-Mail 'Simple Heat Treating for a High Carbon Steel Knife Blade - Part 1, by Steve A.' To A Friend

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24 Comments

  1. Awesome Steve! I have done a little metallurgical work with some of the non faris metals, mostly the noble metals and base metals. I have a rudimentary understanding of iron forging. Thanks so much for the refresher course.

    Just a note on the birthdays for today. Isn’t it interesting that the birthday of Robert E. Lee is today, a day before the potential invocation of the Insurrection Act by President Trump? As one of the most honorable men (if not the MOST honorable man) associated with the War between the States. Is it not appropriate that the Lord might remind us that HONOR may be lost in the histories of men but not in the mind of God! By the way, Robert E. Lee was the only man EVER to go through West Point without a single demerit .

  2. Salvage technology, very useful for the times we are walking into. When salvaging steels remember to think about it’s likely work history. For example with used lawn mower blades is there evidence that rocks were stressing that steel? Micro cracks are nearly impossible to detect and nearly impossible to fix. A burned out SUV is still likely to have excellent spring steel as heat goes up and open fuel fires seldom get anywhere near the forging temperatures described above in the article.

    In the 1800’s when nails were hand forged wood pegs and careful interlocking wood joints were used. The few nails used were so valued that folks used to burn down useless shacks for the recovery of the NAILS.

  3. I saved the leaf springs from my dad’s 39 Ford pickup when I restored it, hoping to learn enough to make tools from them. Great article. Takes a lot of the mystery out of the process. Very educational. Thanks!

  4. Excellent. Not only interesting, but also important and useful information. Wish I had time to ”get into it”, and become a back woods blacksmith. But I have saved it as I might one day may wish to develop another revenue stream by turning my collection of rail road spikes into crude knives, or other basic implements. I’ve heard that for a useful product, the process of tempering, done correctly, can actually be as, or more important than the steel. Currently these spikes are apart of a defensive plan where they can be quickly deployed temporarily as road spikes for a traffic control point, or as a permanent deterrent. They could also be used as the Vietcong used bamboo.

  5. Frank, I understand your position concerning Robert E. Lee and I will always defend your right to a different position than my own. May I suggest that you do a little more digging in the area of history of The United States of America. There are many facets of that history that have been manipulated by the deep state and internationalist that are not necessary completely accurate.

    As we have been seeing ‘first hand’ in current events, narratives can always be manipulated. If the deep state wins this current round of events will you be judged a Patriot or a Traitor?

  6. Hey Steve, excellent stuff. It’s always interesting to know the science behind why things work the way they do.

    A couple of questions.

    1. ) There was a mention last week of chimney pipes above wood stoves getting hot enough to glow. I had that happen once when I was in high school, it’s a hair-raising experience. I did some googling and found the chart below and was wondering if these temperatures more or less applied to all iron-based metals?

    752°F — Red heat, visible in the dark
    885°F — Red heat, visible in the twilight
    975°F — Red heat, visible in the daylight
    1077°F – Red heat, visible in the sunlight
    1292°F – Dark red
    1472°F – Dull cherry-red
    1652°F – Cherry-red
    1832°F – Bright cherry-red
    2012°F – Orange-red

    2.) All my blacksmithing tools were stolen ten years back and all I have left is the anvil. Fortunately is was too heavy to move. I’m trying to figure how to get things going again until I can get lucky and find something at an auction. I can make an air bellows or motor driven air supply easily enough. I’m trying to figure what to use for the forge pan and was wondering how long a car tire rim would hold up to sustained high temperatures? Any other thoughts on jury rigging a forge?

    3.) Do you have any ballpark figures on what temperatures various fuels can reach? Wood, coal, coke, etc?

    Looking forward to part 2.

    2. Jim is with a client today, and I was cleaning up the greenhouse and turning over the soil in the beds. Sorry for the delay in the posting.

      Sincerely,

      Lily

  8. To St Funogas
    Check the youtube videos using “truck rim forge”.
    Lots of design ideas. A combination of these ideas is what I am planning on building.

  10. Very timely article as I am starting a search for a definitive folder knife, high-end price, 3-5 inch blade for my 17 yr old daughter who complains that the kitchen knives (J A Henckels, Farberware etc. ) aren’t very sharp or don’t stay sharp, even when I run them through my Worksharp Sharpener Medium /P220 grit followed by fine/6000 grit. Any suggestions? I have fixed blade KA- BARS already. Stick with that brand for the folder?

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