My first attempt at making a knife [from bar stock] was a steep learning curve. Ultimately it was only a partial success. The heat treat was a little off resulting in a knife edge with excessive graining. But the other parts of the process went quite well, so I reckon I can make a pretty good knife if I get the forge part right.
That first knife was fashioned in 1095 high carbon steel. It is [I now know] quite fussy with regard to exact heat treat and tempering cycles. On that first build I went to "non-magnetic" plus 90secs more time in the forge. That strategy hoped to deliver a temp around 1500˚F/816˚C. But it really was guesswork.
So I determined to buy a digital thermometer and K probe capable of forge temps. The digital thermometer is verifiably accurate on domestic items [boiling water, sweaty armpit] , and with the arrival of the dedicated forge probe today, I am now more confident about the next heat treat:
That first knife was fashioned in 1095 high carbon steel. It is [I now know] quite fussy with regard to exact heat treat and tempering cycles. On that first build I went to "non-magnetic" plus 90secs more time in the forge. That strategy hoped to deliver a temp around 1500˚F/816˚C. But it really was guesswork.
So I determined to buy a digital thermometer and K probe capable of forge temps. The digital thermometer is verifiably accurate on domestic items [boiling water, sweaty armpit] , and with the arrival of the dedicated forge probe today, I am now more confident about the next heat treat:
