mtgrizzly52
Member
I'm about to take the plunge (excuse the pun) into the world of making my own gouges and skews and such. I've bought some steel that is tool steel which uses an oil bath to temper it in 1/4" thickness, width in various sizes from 1/4" to 1 1/2" sizes.
So now, they say the next step is to harden the steel by getting it up to 1500 degrees for a period of time and then quench in the oil.
My question is, and this is totally newbie question, what do you use to get the steel that hot for a sustained time? I don't have an oxy/acet torch set up, I don't have a forge like a blacksmith, in other words what in world do those of you that do this type of thing use to get the temperature up to those levels? Also, how do you know when the steel has hit 1500 degrees; sight, smell, sound, I know, don't touch! *LOL*
As far as the tempering process, it looks like 300 degrees for a sustained time period could be done in mama's oven, but I know better. What do you all use for that part of the process?
Any and all help, suggestions, etc would be appreciated!
Rick (mtgrizzly52)
So now, they say the next step is to harden the steel by getting it up to 1500 degrees for a period of time and then quench in the oil.
My question is, and this is totally newbie question, what do you use to get the steel that hot for a sustained time? I don't have an oxy/acet torch set up, I don't have a forge like a blacksmith, in other words what in world do those of you that do this type of thing use to get the temperature up to those levels? Also, how do you know when the steel has hit 1500 degrees; sight, smell, sound, I know, don't touch! *LOL*
As far as the tempering process, it looks like 300 degrees for a sustained time period could be done in mama's oven, but I know better. What do you all use for that part of the process?
Any and all help, suggestions, etc would be appreciated!
Rick (mtgrizzly52)