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Old 11-03-2016, 04:44 AM
Blake.s Blake.s is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 17
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimmontg View Post
Simply put, if you are heat treating in a forge darken the room and quench at reddish orange to orange and the nonmagnetic temperature is 1413 and you need to get about 60 degrees hotter, so pull the metal out and test it with a magnet once it starts to turn red. If the magnet doesn't stick and it isn't reddish orange pop it back in for a few seconds to minute depending how long it took to get to dull red (time it out). Once ready have 120 degree heated oil ready and quench point/edge down first quickly, don't let it cool down before quench. Then temper at 400 for one hour first as soon as you have wiped the oil off. If you buy some inexpensive 1080 you can have precise HT instructions btw. Test after first temper with a good file, if it doesn't dig in (it shouldn't if decent steel and good heat) and just skips over the blade then temper for another hour.

But using a mix of steels I cannot take you further. Not all mower blades are the same steel sometimes not even from the same company and the same for leaf springs. Leaf springs used to be made with 5160 mostly and that needs to get hotter in the forge a lot, like around 1550-1650 degrees and that is yellowish bright orange, someone please correct me if my memory is incorrect on the 5160. Here is a link to a steel company for blades I suggest 1080 to start.
http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/

Coal forge or propane?
Ok ty for the help It is a coal forge in a old propane tank. I cut the lid off and put a hole in the side with a pipe that connects to a hair dryer. I had some fire bricks in there just cause I never wanted the tank to melt. But I think what I realized is that since the air is coming from the side it seems to never heat the forge equally. So I may pic it up in the air weld some legs on it cut a hole in the bottom and put a stainless screen there and put a pipe with a 90 degree bend then the hair dryer. It seems to me if the air was coming from the bottom it would heat more equally. If not ill just build another one.

As for the knife I was working on yesterday the metal is just so soft. I honestly have my doubts on heat treating it. It was the first one I made and it was from a piece of old angle iron. So I took one of my mower blade and cut it up into a kiridashi knife, its a lot more simple then the one I been working one. I think the metal may heat treat a lot better to. Was a pain in the ass to cut compared to the other metal I was working with.

Either today or tomorrow I should have some pics of some stuff. I am actually really sick atm, I was cleaning in the basement some of my old working chips and I forgot my respirator. And I had a bunch of exotic wood down there. Well some exotic wood you are not supposed to get in your lungs at all. Well I forgot cause it has been a year and now I am sick as #### lol.

So ty for the response
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