Gentlemen knifemakers!
I dearly hope I don't look as stupid as I really am, posting this question here, but I've searched the forum for a couple of hours, and haven't found these answers anywhere.
So I'm gonna' HAVE to give 'em a shot!
I'm just finishing a 12" blade Persian Fighting Knife, by stock reduction, out of D-2. And I lost the last two blades I sent off for "mail order" heat treating. So I figured I'd just jolly well build my own little Propane forge and start teaching myself how to do my own heat treating - starting with this blade.
Yeah, I know, I can hear you already, "dumb!". But I just put way too much of my twilight years in my knife blades, just to throw them in my bottom dresser drawer! And apparently some of the mass heat treaters, who carge only $35 or whatever, just cannot (and I am not blaming them at all!) take the time to watch each individual blade, and jerk it out and straighten it in the nick of time, if it bends. They'd have to charge five times as much to be able to render that kind of individual service!
But I'm getting conflicting recommendation on heat treating D-2.
1. Should I preheat thoroughly at 1400/1500F - hold for 30 minutes - raise to 1850F until uniformly heated - soak for 45 - 60 minutes. Temper at 400F for one hour, two times. Or is that wrong?
2. Do I just let the blade cool off by itself after the 1850? And let it cool off by itself after the two 400F sessions?
3. Or do I "blow" cool it?
4. In a Propane forge, do I HAVE to wrap the blade? I'd a whole lot prefer to be able to see it while it's heating, to see whether it's bending, for example!
5. And Sheffield supply house says, "to minimize surface decarburization, use salt bath, controlled atmosphere furnace or pack harden. So,
(a) Do I need the salt bath? And
(b) What does "pack harden" mean?
6. But, simultaneously, Sheffield also says, "Quench in still air or dry air blast. Do they mean IN ADDITION to the salt bath and pack hardening, or do they mean IN LIEU of the salt bath and/or pack hardening?
7. Are those "temperature Crayons", sold by reliable dealers, any good at all?
I can't tell you how much I would appreciate your help here!
I just now, at age 71, finished my first knife, a gorgeous ("I" think!) California Bowie, and you can see a few little shots of it AND the Persian Fighter on my new little web site
http://www.copperheadknives.com.
And I'll be posting some professional photos there shortly. But I would NEVER, EVER, HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAKE THESE KNIVES IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE GREAT HELP I RECEIVED FROM YOU GUYS on CKD! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
I might add, I'd love to hear from any of you directly at my home email, if you want to gab about knives in general!
Gene