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or oil to stop the tempering heats from traveling too fast but I feel this is too rapid of
a cooling and stressful on the steel. With practice, there isn't a need to stop the heat.
You will be able to calculate how hot to heat it so it will be tempered the way you
want it by letting it air cool. Usually this means slight heat ups in certain areas as you
go. For this first temper I just go for an even light straw color and then let it cool in
still air and rinse in water. I build the fire up a little while I'm waiting for the blade to
cool and get the bed of coals even with a layer of ashes on top. When the blade has
cooled to the touch I lay it back on the coals as before until I get a dark straw evenly
through out the edge area and let cool in still air. I do it again until I get a bronze
color all over the cutting area of the blade. I may have some magentas and blues in
the back and tang area of the blade but I want a very even bronze color in the edge to
at least 1/3 of the ways up the side of the blade towards the spine or back. I let this
cool and bury the blade with the bronze colored edge area in fine sand with the rest of
the blade exposed. I wet the sand around the blade so it will make good contact with
the steel and keep it cool. I then heat up a pair of thick ended tempering tongs in the
forge to an orange heat. I quench the tong handles in water so I can hold them with
my hands. I use the tongs to grab the back or spine of the blade to transfer the heat
into it and to further draw the hardness out of selected areas for greater strength. I go
over the entire back and spine area of the blade until I get an even solid blue color
there. I temper it even more in the tang and ricasso areas. I give the very tip of the
blade a light blue temper. I end up with a blade with a dark blue back or spine into a
dusty gray in the tang with a bronze edge. This gives me a stiff flexable back or spine
with an extremely tough tang and a hard sharp edge that is still sharpenable in the
field.
I hand sharpen my knives on typically available honing stones so the edge can be
maintained by the typical experienced user. The blade is tested by putting the tip in a
couple inches of a leather padded vise. I grab the tang and flex it with my full wieght
back and forth and demand that the blade return to true straightness after I release
pressure. I wrap the tang with a rag as a temporary handle and chop and whittle on
some hardwood for around ten to twenty minutes. I check the edge with an 8x loupe
to see if the edge has rolled or chipped any. If the blade fails the flex or chopping tests
I start my heat treatment process over again. Thoroughness in each step is the key to
better heat treating!
This is not the only way. This is only my way. Be careful and use proper safety
equipment!
17 of 18 28/10/2006 8:47 AM
Blacksmith Knife Tutorial http://www.livelyknives.com/blacksmithknife.htm
OK, here's the finished knife. You'll notice that this blade is yellowy on the bevel.
That's the color from the tempering process. I sanded off most of the other colors and
just left the straw color on the bevel. After use this fades alot but there will always be
a slight tinge of color to the blade. If you don't like it you can remove it by soaking it
in white vinegar. I like the colors myself. Especially after they have faded into just a
tinge of color.
18 of 18 28/10/2006 8:47 AM [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]