[Crex]

Mark,
The blade snapping like that is not a bad thing. It indicates you are getting the hardening temp pretty well on the nose. I don't think there's many of us out here that haven't snapped a few. I do it just to test unknown steels all the time (just don't make them into a blade first!). There is a small window of opportunity to straighten a blade with some steels after the quench, but it's very small and not worth the risk to me. Since I forge all my blades I always have a heat source ready for redo if necessary during the HT process.

Are you normalizing of the steel after grinding? It will make a world of difference in how the blade responds to HT. Take the blade up to critical, remove and hold in still air until the color goes flat black. Allow to cool further until it's cool enough to touch. Repeat the process total of three times and then go for the HT. You can also take the blade through the annealing process after normalizing (go to SEARCH) but I haven't seen any significant difference with the saw blade steel doing this.

I always make sure there's no warp before the quench with a quick look down the spine. With practice you can do it while in motion to the quench tank. If you still get a warp, reheat and straighten while hot. You have caused uneven stress during the grinding process. On a stubborn piece try just an edge quench, sometimes that will allow you to salvage the work.

I do the normalizing process while I'm forging the blade and after I prepare the blade for HT. I strongly suggest adding the step to your process.

Carpe Ferrum!