Did I do it right? (heat treating 1080)

W

wyme84

Member
Hi,
After reading lots of threads, I just heat treated for the first time, and this is what I did.

1. Using a home-made propane furnace I heated up the knife until it was no longer magnetic -- tested it on a 100lb magnet. Then I put it back in the fire for a minute to bring the temp back up. The knife didn't look red, just a little pink, but it was pretty bright out, so I am assuming I just couldn't see it.

2. I quenched in peanut oil that was warmed up to about 130 degrees. No flare up, just a little bubbling. I moved it around a little, and let it cool off some more.

3. Took it out of the oil, wiped off some of the scale. Then tried running a file over the spine to check for hardness -- it didn't feel much different than another piece of scrap 1080.

The whole thing was pretty easy, straight forward, and uneventful -- and I feel like I must have done something wrong?

How does it sound to you?

BTW - it is now tempering in the oven at 450 for 2 hours x2.

Thanks!
 
File should skate across it if it hardened.....yours didn't sound like that happened. Maybe you didn't reach critical temp when you put it back in forge??
 
Try checking the blade again now that it's been sitting a while (see my answer to your question on Knife Network). If the file bites into the blade you will need to repeat the heat treatment. Heat treating in daylight can be tricky. Traditionally it is done after dusk. You can also see the decalessance and recalessance (a shadow effect that passes over the steel as it changes phases) in dim light. Don't bother checking the blade with a file until it is just warm to the hand or conversion to martensite might not be complete.

Doug
 
I'm not sure that it would be harder than the file now that it's been tempered. You could try to do some edge testing like trying to cut through a thin, like 1/32", brass rod or bailing wire and see if it deforms.

Doug
 
follow up
--> I tried banging the spine of the knife against the bottom (handle area) of a file, and it looks like the file is indented..... so I think Ill assume the knife is hardened
 
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