Main Discussion Area > At the Forge

Tempering a file knife

<< < (3/3)

Stringman:
Perfect! Thanks guys. I'm gonna copy this and tack it up in my workshop now.  ;D

nclonghunter:
By no means do I claim any skill or knowledge here.....I have read a lot on it also.

Get very, completely dry sand in a can. Heat your metal to red and stick it into the sand. Any moisture will harden the steel, so it must be bone dry. The slow cooling metal will soften it. You can grind, drill and shape your knife when soft.

Once shaped you heat to red and put it in water. It is then brittle hard and will break. Polish the steel and get into a dim light area and begin heating the metal again to a straw or yellow color. Begin slowly inserting the knife into oil and try to get a dark line moving above the oil line all the way to the handle and then sink it into the metal cooling it. Stopping the heat at a straw color is a "temper" good for knives. Not too hard and not too soft. Polish again and put handles on it.

Different metals require different colors for the perfect "temper". The speed that you push the metal into the oil makes a difference on the "temper". The type of oil you use makes a difference on "temper".

Best I can explain what little I know...Good Luck

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[*] Previous page