Main Discussion Area > At the Forge

hot enough?

(1/4) > >>

paulc:
Since I had collected way too much crap scrap wood I burned a bunch today to clean-up the shop yard.  Figured while I was at it I would throw a couple mower blades, some hand powered hedge shears, and a couple lopping shear blades into the pile to see what the fire would do to it...I swear I saw at least some of the blades glowing at one point but maybe not enough?  When I tested the still insanely hot blades they grabbed the magnet immediately.  Burned the crap out of my thumb in the process....  does the magnet test only work after the metal has cooled?

Thanks, Paul

Morgan:
A fire of wood coals and a blower less powerful than that leaf blower will get the steel as hot as you want to the point of melting. There is a pretty big learning curve using wood or even charcoal, but it’s plenty do-able and if you are going to be making stock removal blades, there’s no need for anything other than a hole in the ground for your fire and a source of forced air that you can dampen as needed. Working in the dark or near dark is easiest for me if I’m using charcoal or wood as it is much easier to see what is happening with the steel. In daylight, your steel can go from not hot enough to burned up in a hurry. Introduce air slowly, low volume and work your way up , if all you’re wanting to do is normalize and heat treat, you won’t need as much as you might think.

paulc:
Thanks Morgan, appreciate the response. Am I hearing you say this metal is ruined?  Or just that its really unlikely I got the results I was looking for?

Do I just need to try again, paying attention this time? Cause I sure wasn't paying attention today.

Thanks, Paul

Morgan:
No, the steel isn’t ruined. The steel will become non magnetic in the 1400°ish range. Hotter and it is still non magnetic, any cooler and it is magnetic. Steel will start to glow well before it is non magnetic.

paulc:
So much to learn...so what did I accomplish yesterday other than burn some scrap wood and my thumb?  What kind of properties can I now expect in the "proto" blades?  Will the be easier or harder to shape?

Thanks so much!  Paul

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page