That talk with an old timer at the hammer-in changed my heat treat approach

I was at the Southern Forge hammer-in last month and this guy named Roy who's been smithing since the 70s saw me struggling with a blade. He said 'you're soaking way too long, you're cooking the grain structure.' He showed me his method using just a 5 second soak in the forge and it hit me that I've been overcomplicating this for 2 years. Has anyone else had a moment where a simple correction from an older smith totally changed their results?

3 comments

3 Comments

dylan_brown3010d ago

Man, that hit me right in the feels, Roy sounds like a legend.

kai_webb919d ago

My buddy Tom tried that 5 second soak trick on some 1095 he was working with. He was sweating bullets the whole time thinking he'd ruin it, but the blade came out perfect with a nice even edge. Now he tells everyone about it at the local hammer-in.

max22310d ago

Roy's method makes total sense. I read a piece in a knife making mag a few years back where this old timer in Oregon talked about the same thing, said most modern steels don't need a long soak unless you're working with low alloy stuff. @dylan_brown30, you're right about Roy being a legend. I tried a 5 second soak on a 1084 blade last week and it hardened just fine, no warping. Two years of holding it in there for 30 seconds like a fool.