Hey all. I've been making some marking knives out of old plane blades for a minute and thought I'd try the same thing with some hardware store steel.

I made a few (on the left in the pic) and while they hold their edge OK, they feel a bit incomplete without hardening and annealing (EDIT:tempering). I bought a cheapy blow torch but it just doesn't get the steel hot enough.

I've thought about walking to some of the abandoned coal mines in my area and building a little fire - would this work, or should I try and build an enclosure for my torch?

Metal workers, friends of metal workers, Forged In Fire watchers help me out!

Diolch

  • Mehrunes_Laser [comrade/them, any]
    ·
    3 years ago

    https://youtu.be/JbsTpabc85k Also, you can buy a gas called MAPP gas for your torch which will burn hotter. You might also need a better/bigger torch if yours won't do what you need it to do. At a certain point, it'll be much more cost effective to get/build a forge.

    Here's a wonderful vid from This Old Tony that goes into detail about a proper heat treating oven, and what exactly you're trying to do with heat treating. He talks about what temps to shoot for, and how those temps affect the end hardness.

    • Octofad [they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      diolch yn fawr! Great resources! I'll look into the MAPP gas but maybe it'd be worth upgrading the torch. I only paid something like £15 for the one I have last year. Maybe I'll keep it around just for tempering.

      This Old Tony's precision is amazing. A very fun watch too! Thanks again :07: