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Thread: Annealing:

  1. #1
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    Default Annealing:

    So I tried my stock 1080 normalized steel on the sander and it wasn't making much of a dent. I figure I should anneal it to soften it and make it easier to work.

    Questions:
    Do most of you guys anneal normalized steel or do you just work it slowly?

    I do not have a furnace and my 1080 needs to be heated to 1500. I do not know how long it needs to be held at that temp though. I know I can get to that temp with a wood fire, but the controlled cooling may be difficult. My plan is to stoke a wood fire in a vented brick enclosure. The fire will be built on top of a layer of brick and sand. Once I get to temp, the steel will be buried in the coals and then everything will be buried in more sand. This should allow it to cool very slowly. My concern though is its winter, so the ambient temperature is the 30's.

    The other option is to put the steel in a vice and take a grinder to it. This is not nearly as controllable though as softer steel and a sander.

    Any words of advice?


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    Lone Wolf COWBOYSURVIVAL's Avatar
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    I don't pay attention to the temp. I just build a fair sized hardwood fire. Stoke it up as hot as I can and place the steel in on top of the hotpoint and let it slide to the bottom of the pit on it's own push coals over the top and reteive in the morning. It is a must however your mountains are blue!
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I have annealed files in a fire. I do not know all of the technical do's and don'ts about the process of doing it this way, but will describe what I did that worked. I know that Camp10 can give you information to make sure you have good results every time. Honestly - I may have been lucky with some of my annealing with fire. I built a fire, burning oak in my chiminea and laid the file on top of the fire. I added some more firewood to the top. Once the file was glowing cherry red, I maintained the fire for another 30 to 60 minutes. I then let the fire die down naturally and removed it from the ashes the next day.

    I don't use that method any longer, but I know that if you leave it in the fire too long you can not only change the crystalline structure of the steel, but you can lose carbon content. If you cool it down too fast it will not anneal properly. I used this method after reading various sources. It seems to have worked. Looks like CS and I have done it pretty much the same.

    Like I said, Camp10 (and others I'm sure) can give you a more detailed description of the process to make sure you have success.
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    Spark Maker panch0's Avatar
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    I just took it to temp of 1500 and turned it off and took them out the next day. A red glow turning to orange then letting it cool very very slowly should do it. I like Crash's method.
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    Sounds good guys, thanks. Hopefully Camp will pop in before I get around to doing it.

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    Senior Member Camp10's Avatar
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    I would just work it in the normalized condition. What type of sander/ grit are you using? Normalized isnt hardened, if your sander isnt making progress with it now it will not be that much better annealed. If you are after annealed anyways the best way is what Pancho said but you will need access to a kiln. I use my gas forge for most simple steels (surprise, surprise) and my method is to use a bucket of vermiculite to slow the cooling. I have two cast iron window weights that I bring to temp along with the steel I want to anneal. I place the three pieces of metal in the vermiculite when the steel is non-magnetic and leave it like that overnight. I dont know why a hardwood fire wouldnt work just fine for you but I would remove the steel from the fire when it is non-magnetic and cool it with the vermiculite. If you want to try ashes instead, I think it will work.
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    Thanks Camp, I'll leave it normalized and double check the grit on the sander (don't remember off hand). What grit do you guys recommend for initial shaping for a flat grind?

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    I start with 50 grit.
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    Senior Member Camp10's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by crashdive123 View Post
    I start with 50 grit.
    I use either 50 or 60. I'm not sure how you are setting up your bench but if you are using a small belt sander (3 x 18ish) try locking the sander in your vice so the belt is either verticle or angled towards you and see if it is easier to work that way.
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  10. #10
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    Since it's my first time really working metal, I just didn't know how long it takes, which I now have a new respect for you guys for doing. I ended up taking the grinder to the metal for the initial shaping. The 80 grit on the sander just was taking too long. My lines are a little squirrely, but I can clean them up a bit. As soon as I find my camera I'll post pics of what I have so far.

    My set up is a table with clamps locking the stock down so I can take the grinder to it. Then I have a belt sander in a vice, but it was horizontal. I like it and seems easiest for me to work it that way so far. I had a small bucket of water that I would keep dipping the steel in, but I may have burned the very tip when I was using the grinder to cut off some of the extra stock. If I did, I'm going to have to take the edge down some more to try to avoid any of the burned steel staying in the blade.
    Last edited by JPGreco; 02-15-2011 at 04:09 PM.

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