Date: Sun, 08 Mar 1998 07:35:20 -0600
From: Snow <bacafe@earthlink.net>
To: baidarka@lists.intelenet.net
Subject: Re: [baidarka] Tooling up
Those old files are good tool steel....here's some hints I learned for those
wanting to make their own tools...
Annealing: One happy quality of tool steel is that when heated to it's arrest
point (Optimal temperature for annealing, it becomes non-magnetic. A small magnet
on a stick will show when this has happened....I use a propane weed burner and a
little box made from fire brick for heating.
As soon as the steel has become non magnetic, the second secret to annealing is to
let the steel cool as slowly as possible....bury it in dry vermeculite....might
even try putting a hot piece of steel in there to heat it up first.....cover and
let cool over night untill cool to the touch....theis keeps the molecular
structure from reverting to a hardened state....
After shaping your tool, reheat to non-magnetic, and then plunge into oil....atf,
or olive oil works fine,
(note file steel is usually W1 or W2, which is water hardening, but I still use
oil)
Immediately after quench, put the tool into an oven between 375(harder) to 450
(softer) for an hour to an hour and a half....this draws the temper down from
glass hard to a softer, less brittle steel.
Making tools and knives is part of any process for me.....it's fun, plus you get
the tool fit to the job and the hand....
good luck and remember, hot steel sometimes looks like cold steel...
Jim Shepard
Nomadcm wrote:
> Hi:
> I used an old file for a Crooked knife ( tridition, got'a love it ) back a
> piece they used old worn out files to make such tools. I used a pawn shop.
> The prymary advantage to a hevey solid blade like this is that it makes a good
> hacking tool and one handed drawknife after the rough hacking is done ( it's
> cheap to ). I used a 25 degre bevel and 30 degree micro bevel, it works well.
> The real sicret to it is to cook the file in a charcoal fire and leve it in
> ther till the char coal burns out and cools off before you start cutting the
> edge. I used a $2.00 barbique and 5lbs of charcole. Then after your done
> putting the edge on cook it again and well it's still a nice dull red pull it
> out and drop it in cooking oil. Total cost $6.23 including the oil. there
> are better ways to temper the file but this works.
>
> Bob