The lower 10XX steels are often used for things like hammers, sledges, wedges, heavier swords. I don't use anything under 1080 and have been using a particular 1084 with a significantly different temper temp. I'm just throwing out 400, so if you look it up don't shoot me for being off by a bit. You can't be off by very much or you wind up with brittle steel or too soft. For 10XX steels (one of the simpler ones and the closest to what you can expect from rebar) like 1065 or 1075 you would go to around 400 degrees. An hour or two per cycle is common for simpler steels, with two cycles being suggested. Cold just increases the vapor jacket issue.Īssuming it did actually harden you would then temper the metal by heating it back up and holding it at a particular temp for a while. You actually want your quench warmed up, not cold. Water is a very fast quench but has vapor jacket issues that require a bit more work to overcome. For quenching you can try water but canola oil would be a better household option. With more complex steels there's more to it, but with what will be in rebar that's not going to matter. You harden by bringing the metal up past critical then quenching. You might get a section here or there that's harder than the rest, but forget anything consistent. Snow isn't going to do much good for quenching (not tempering, they are very different) and the odds of being able to heat treat rebar into something harder than it started are slim to none.
QUENCHING A RAILROAD SPIKE KNIFE HOW TO
For a home heat treat without specialized equipment I suggest 1080 or 1084 since the heat treat isn't as picky as fancier steels and it is more easily done without precise temperature control beyond what your oven or toaster oven has for the tempering process.ĭon't get me wrong, being able to hammer a chunk of rebar into something else isn't totally useless, but making a knife shaped object from what is essentially scrap metal is not a good use of someone's time unless they're just that broke and want to learn how to forge to shape from round stock. Or, assuming shit has not hit the fan, purchase some known steel. At least use a railroad spike or old leaf spring or something with at least SOME likelihood of creating a useful knife. Uh huh, and it will hold an edge about as long as a dull spoon, will bend under any normal effort and in general make a really lousy knife.
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