Heat treatment

[ADP8]

Is there a way to safely heat treat metal without a professional forge?
I wwant to make my own blades but cant afford the £800+ forges that are sold online.
A small home made method for casual use would do.
Ive seen videos of people making home made forges from BBQs and such, can anybody recomend a method?

Cheers.

 

[Ogri the trog]

Greenpetes videos are the standard by which many others are judged....

http://www.greenpete.co.uk/knife-making/knife-making-video/

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[Everything Mac]

There are quite a few threads on this very subject on here.

You have to do a bit of digging though.

Greenpete's videos are good for getting you going with minimal equipment.


But with a little ingenuity you can make a very workable forge:

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56425&highlight=mac+forge+comrie


There are more threads but few have pictures.

I used to use a tesco BBQ (£3 clearance bargain ) - for my portable forge. It worked a charm. The paint on the underside didn't even blister from the heat.

Have a google for "Brake Drum Forge" - this is the type of forge many people get started with.

I have found that youtube is an excellent resource for learning new things.
[video=youtube;r35V-APXi08]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r35V-APXi08&feature=player_detailpage[/video]


All the best
Andy

 

[PaulSanderson]

you dont need to spend anything to HT blades....i do mine in an old biscuit tin with hot coals, then use a hairdryer to get the temp up, quench then temper in the oven. ive had some pretty good results so far...