Some of the old ones were made of W1 and now are more likely 1095+ on the carbon content. Like Ray said just forge them, equalize and then anneal. You have a HT oven and that makes annealing easier as you know the precise temperature. Here is a general guide for heat treating high carbon steels and please note it's using 3/4 round stock so adjust your methods accordingly. Oh and no water quench as you have mystery steel.
http://cintool.com/catalog/Water_Hardening/W2.pdf