forging heat

[doublearrow]

Sorry to bug you again, but I can't figure this out. Is the forging heat of a steel the same as the critical? I did searches and everything said bring the forge up to forging heat, well I'm not exactly sure of what that entails. Or do you just get it as hot as possible? Wouldn't that technically "overheat" the steel. The threads I got when I put in forging heat are the ones I found before but don't mention temps or colors just says heat. It maybe in my head but I thought I found a chart the other day that had welding temps of different steels and forging temps any ideas on that? Any help is appreciated.

[Ed Caffrey]

Most folks, including myself, will run their forge at, or near its top end temp, and then determine the heat they forge at by how long they leave the steel in the forge (what we refer to as a "heat"). Personally my methodology is this:

I utilize the highest heats that I intend to use for the first 2-3 "heats" (this is generally above critical temp). From there I tend to reduce the amount of heat I use by leaving the steel in the forge for shorter periods as I progress through the forging process, ending with medium to dull red heats.

The thing that you have to remember as someone new to forging is that the color/temp may not be as you imagine it...... especially when you get into the orange and yellow ranges. Often times this can be confusing for someone new to forging.

The colors will run something like this....from coldest to hottest:

dull red
med red
bright red

dull oranage
med orange
bright orang

dull yellow
med yellow
bright yelloy

white

For those first 2-3 heats I mentioned above, I'm in the medium to bright yellow. This allows me to move the most materials in the shortest time, without exposing the steel to too many cycles above critical temp (usually around 1500-1600F on most of the steels you'll be forging). The trick is to realize that thinner cross sections of steel will heat faster and to higher temps than thicker cross sections. This is vitally important to remember once you get a point forged, and have thinned down the bevels. At this point you run a risk of literally burning the tip (first 1/3 of the blade from the point) off if you fail to pay attention to what your doing. In most cases with a knife, the first 1/3 of the blade is going to be the most used portion of the blade.....and it is also the easiest to mess up while forging, so I believe its extremely important to pay particular attention to that portion of the blade. From there I lessen the heat (color) of the steel throughout the rest of the forging process, ending up by doing my finish smoothing and straightening in the medium to dull reds.

Once the actual forging is completed, and I'm happy with what I've done, I thermal cycle the blade by bringing it to sub=critical temps (1000-1200F which equals a very dull red) and allow the blade to cool on a rack of some type. I repeat this process three times, then bring the blade to just critical temp and anneal it by placing it straight from the forge into a container of vermiculite, where it requires 6-12 hours to cool. From there its off the finish shop for rough grinding, and then on with the rest of the process.

I know its beating a dead horse, but as you become experienced with forging, many of these things will become second nature.

[doublearrow]

Thanks Mr. Caffrey,

I knew about the thermal cycles and what not just couldn't figure out the definition of forging heat. I appreciate the answer it's a couple steps ahead of me so maybe I won't have to bug ya anymore. I'm going to order some known steel and bang on it some to get a better feel and keep reading in the meantime. I did play around with the gate valve and fuel earlier after reading yours and Woodchuck Forge answer to an earlier question it helped big time. Seems like yourself and Woodchuck Forge know a thing or two about this forging thing so I guess that's why they let ya'll hang around . Seriously I really appreciate ya'll giving me some answers with great explanations.

[Recurve]

Ed has an excellent DVD that will take a lot of the guess work out of the whole process well worth the small investment!

[Dana Hackney]

I've watched Ed's video many, many times and still pick up
things I missed from previous viewings.

Dana

[doublearrow]

Sounds like a good idea to me I'm gonna order one. Thanks

[Doug Lester]

Ryan, I'd suggest that you keep an eye out for DVDs and videos on subjects that you want to learn about. Reading is one thing but seeing is something else. I have a number of them I I review them all occasionally. I just watched Ed's basic video/DVD the other day and I still picked up something from it.

Doug Lester

[doublearrow]

I agree Mr. Lester. I've got 3 or 4 of the Center Cross Videos for other things. I don't know why I didn't think about odering it earlier, but I've got it on it's way now. Thanks

[doublearrow]

Mr. Caffrey I got your video and watched it. I learned alot and dang you made that look easy!

[Ed Caffrey]

Hi Ryan!

Thanks for letting me know the video arrived safely! If you have any questions, or need any help, don't hesitate to contact me.