Hi, was wondering what everyone did for heat treating? Whats the best oven to get in Canada or should I take a quick drive down to the states? Do you guys send out or do it yourself?
I usually sent mine out until I got a forge. Now I HT my own 1084, but still send out my stainless and 5160 to knifemaker.ca. An oven is on the list when I have the cash for sure though.
Many of the common carbon steels you can heat treat yourself in a small forge (even the trusty two-brick one). For anything else, it's a toss-up between the Evenheat and the Paragon ovens. Evenheats seem more readily available in Canada. Do some price checking and see where you can get the best deal. BTW, I do my own HT of carbon steel (1084, O1) and plan on an Evenheat in the near future (i.e. when I can figure out where the heck to put it in my already overcrowded space).
I'm not expert by any means but you can get pretty good results with a forge or torch on simple carbon steel. I now have a oven (Evenheat from Rob at Canadian knife making supplies). I tested some of the knives I heat treated with a forge and torch to destruction just to be sure of my results. I'm more complacent with the oven but I still do the brass rod test on my blades. The oven is great for getting a nice even heat (Very lousy pun) on your blade without worrying about getting hot spots.
I have an Evenheat and Rob i think has a Paragon both do an excellent job (no complaints here) and its AMAZING how fast you pay them off. I bought mine about 2 months ago and heat treated enough blades that I can truly say its paid for
here's a good read google "kevin cashen all about salt baths" and scroll down 5 or 6 links to the title "all about salt baths" read them all , goes into great detail of the pros and cons I'd like to have one some day even if its just to try, but for now my Paragon suits my needs perfectly
The salt really got my attention. I think I will look into it a little more. That was very interesting Rob.
After watching the salt heat treating demo at the Regina hammer in I agree that it is probably the best way to go. The temp control combined with how clean the blades came out of it was what really impressed me. Add to hat the fact that the blades hang vertically without touching anything and you also eliminate possible pressure warping or temp variances. I would love to do my blades that way but I doubt my fabricating skills on something like that. Now if only someone who had made one before made some to sell........ Lol.
Yep. When I took my first knife making lesson from Ed Storch (in Manville, Alberta) I made a blade from ATS-34 stainless steel and Ed used molten salt to heat treat it. Jim T
............and I think that would be the nice thing about a pot..........is volume, lots of knives at once, seems like it may be a lot of work though for 1 or 2 at a time
never know there may be one near by........i only know of one user in canada, another maker right here in my home town sold his about a year ago, he was in a gated community with a small back yard with close neighbors...........he traded it for elk racks !!! Doh !!!! Missed on that one !!
right now I am thinking of either building or buying a small gas forge so i can heat treat o1 and some of the other 10xx steels at home. something like this might work http://boingboing.net/2010/04/30/how-to-make-a-miniat.html
That's awfully small for blades and seems overly complicated. If you want a similar one that's easy to make, try the two-brick forge. It gives you a bigger chamber for the heat. Also, if you want to make it longer you can add two more bricks, and even add a larger burner for more heat. I've been using one for years.
