A great blade needs to perform in all kinds of situations. A blade snapping under pressure poses a serious safety risk to the user (or abuser). The carbon steel blades at the Tharwa Valley Forge are edge hardened using a three step process to ensure a hard edge and soft back. The knife can be bent through 90 degrees without snapping!
heat the edge to the point where it loses magnetism. Quench in oil.
temper blade in oven at 215 degress Celcius for 90 minutes. Turn off oven and slowly cool overnight
heat tang to "blue" colour then place edge in water and heat back to "blue" colour. repeat this step three times
“The viscosity of your heat treat oil determines the slow or fast quench. Burnt motor oil is slow - add 6% diesel fuel and it is faster (this will work for spring steels).” -Jerry Fisk
Essential Supplies
From our Store
Knifemaking Steel
High carbon steel for bladesmithing. Excellent for forging and heat treating. The steel works well under the hammer and the size is perfect for a range of small to medium blade. This is a simple steel that is oil quenched and shows hamon lines very clearly when heat treated correctly. Perfect for Japanese style blades. You should get between 4 and 6 blades per length. 15N20 is the same as 1075 with an additional 2% nickel. It makes a high contrast pattern when combined with either 1075 or 1055 in Damascus steel.
1055 - 4mm x 25mm x 530mm (annealed) 400g - $10 per length
1075 - 3mm x 25mm x 450mm (spring tempered) 250g - $15 per length
15N20 - 2mm x 25mm x 500mm (annealed) 200g - $15 per length
Postage/freight extra. This is in limited supply so contact us now to order.
