Making Detail Carving Tools: Part 2. Hardening and Tempering

[@kellyklaask7su990]

I always thought heat treating was an involved, hocus pocus procedure that had to be done on the night of a full moon. I am glad I was wrong. You made it so simple...I'm going to try it. Thanks!

[@suecollins3246]

I thought so as well. I just wonder if I can use my LPG gas bottle flame.

[@mitsukowalker5831]

If you don't know by now.... you do good work. Both as a maker and as a teacher. You should have a good warm feeling being given these gifts. Thank you.

[@billgiles3261]

‘Not enough time to fool around’, who fools around with a piece of red hot steel in hand? Good, clear explanation.

[@BobBlarneystone]

For the 14oz gas bottles, I made a stand by screwing a large soup can to a board. It's very stable. If a drillpress is available, one can chuck the unhardened blade, heat it and then use the quill to quickly dunk the hot blade in the peanut oil on the drillpress table.

[@Demon_Pilot_GT]

Thanks for the videos Patrick

[@rufuscrackle]

I used to make these by the dozens. They can be tempered by color after cleaning after the hardening, but like in the video an oven is easier. I got a $1 toaster oven at thrift store and would do dozens at a time.

[@WillN2Go1]

Thanks Patrick for sharing this information. (I think my comments are correct, but I defer to you. ) It might be good to mention that trying to file and shape already hardened steel, like drill bits into carving tools is many times more difficult. Peanut and canola oils are good for this use because they can take more heat than other cooking oils. Hardening temperatures are much higher than any oil... so it just means a bit less smoke. Also to mitigate fire risk always have a cover near by, just like a pan on the stove catching fire, the quickest safest method to put it out, is to smother it with a lid. If that jar becomes a big flame will you hesitate dropping the lid on it? If you might, make something bigger out of tinfoil. My oven is not calibrated to the dial, so use a hanging thermometer to get the right temperature. The baked on grease/oil and the oxide are very durable. In some cases this is useful. Blacksmith carbonize the surface of iron by dousing them in a pot of grease, the iron doesn't rust.

[@cid4887]

You could really see that that's one hell of informative, professional, clear, great video. thanks for sharing, it helped for real.

[@1froberto]

Thank you for putting out such an easy to understand video. You made it so easy to follow. I can't wait to make these.

[@666gwp]

Excellent video thank you for making and sharing

[@theexistentialist.5530]

These are great , thank you very much.

[@tinamckeage6665]

Thank you for this video

[@Me-no-tell]

Wow you blew my mind, maybe i can do it. Thank you

[@mitchgingrich2619]

Please make more videos! You have the best, most concise, info packed videos on KZbin. Seriously, having about 7 videos and so many views and subscribers is an achievement. If you have a way of making bigger chisels,. gouges, carving tools, I would LOVE to see that.

[@PatrickSullivan]

Thanks, Mitch. I have made some larger tools, but as the size increases, both the tools and the methods have to change. In making large blades, it becomes hard to obtain uniform heating using just a single propane torch. Without uniform heating, the steel is very prone to cracking during the quench. You either need a much larger burner, or a small forge to contain the heat and prevent it from flying upward with the hot gases. Gouges pose different problems. Shaping curved blades by starting with a big block and grinding away most of the metal to achieve the radius you want becomes less attractive than simply bending a thin sheet to the desired curve. However, my attempts to do this kind of blacksmithing have not been elegant. It is harder than it looks. I don't think I am ready to do a master class on blacksmithing in your garage.

[@mitchgingrich2619]

Ah shoot, knowing nothing about metal, I hoped you had a method. That all makes sense. You might consider teaming up with one of those maker outfits (the ones with all the tools and sell memberships like a gym). They likely have all the metal working equipment required and would profit from someone giving a compelling reason to use them. If I had the knowledge, I'd probably join one just to save on carving tools. Thanks again for the info. I made a couple small tools yesterday. This is extremely useful for small, detail tools you need only here and there. It's expensive to buy them all independently. You saved me a ton of money already.

[@artificiusintelligence4996]

Excelent video!

[@TomJones0065]

Love Your Video, Glad someone finally came out with something SIMPLE! Thank YOU! I am learning how to do wood carving myself and I like Little Ideas! SO These will help ALOT!! THANK YOU! GREAT WORK! Great IDEAS!! More more more !! : )

[@reedcooper6545]

Thanks again for another great video!

[@diydarkmatter]

very nice i already knew some of this but did learn a couple things thank you .

[@theobserver9131]

You have an excellent teaching Style.

[@elund408]

if someone is having trouble finding the higher grits of sand paper, it can be found in the automotive paint area of walmart or auto parts stores

[@annhardin741]

I have been wanting to learn to make some micro tools for several years since I would like some that I have not seen for sale . I loved this series. Thanks so much for the information. Now, could you give me some guidance as to how to make some bent leg micro tools? And perhaps a micro hooked knife like Dockyard used to sell? I know that is asking a lot.

[@ronsbeerreviewstools4361]

Very informatlve and entertaining video, thanks.

[@jackreeves3001]

Thanks for sharing!

[@johnfoster4414]

Heat the steel until it is not magnetic any more then dunk it in the oil until cool.

[@crossgrainwoodproductsltd9230]

This 3-part series is excellent. Packed with information. One question: Are you suppose to reheat it to a straw color like in knife making? I'm happy with what you have given us, I'm just curious.

[@_Caedwyn]

thank you so much but how do i know what type of metal my tool is made from? i own cheap non brand drop forged wrench and screwdriver bits for drills and other cheap wood working tools , my wire cutter loses its sharpness fast too...

[@robertbrunston5406]

Thank you.

[@Dave51262]

Great video series and thank you for explaining the color change and rapid heat loss for the small diameter. I have not heard of water quench after the 400F tempering. Is this just for the thin steel? Usually after tempering I thought it was just room temp cool down.

[@PatrickSullivan]

Dave: First, I do not want to pose as the ultimate authority on metallurgy. However, the quench from 1500 is very different from the quench from 400 degrees. At 1500, new compounds are forming (like iron carbides) and the entire crystalline structure is changing rapidly. In contrast, the tempering process is one of heating the metal to a low temperature and hold it just enough to allow a few of the micro-crystals to re-adjust their positions by a tiny amount. The amount that is "just enough" is a combination of temperature and time, with the recipes worked out by trial and error. If you hold the work at 400 for hours, you will get more relaxation and more softening (along with a little more springiness), which we don't need for these chisels. Note that these very small tools will cool off pretty rapidly once you take them out of the oven, and so it probably makes little difference whether they air-cool or water-cool. I dip them in water for my convenience, so I can begin cleaning them and sharpening them immediately.

[@vikmoj2426]

I would like to say that steel isn't exactly same after cooling slowly. Its crystal (or grain? in english? Not sure...) structure is grown differently, and it's most probably worse than before (crystals will be likely bigger, which is worse). Going to hardening temperature means recrystallization, so one would say that you can repeat over and over until you are happy, and don't care about crystal size, but truth is that basic borders of some crystals are preserved even until liquidus phase, which is above hardening temp., so you really want as good microstructure as possible before the final hardening. In summary, try to harden it correctly on the very first attempt. Good luck!

[@suecollins3246]

Patrick, can I use the cooker flame from my gas bottle - will it be hot enough? It's LPG.

[@suecollins3246]

I experimented this afternoon with a 4mm steel skewer. It lit up like a Christmas tree!

[@WinSchutten]

I love this video, even found a local source of the O1 steel, even though it goes by different names in other countries. Aisi: (American) = O1 Din: (German) 100MnCrW4 EN: (European) 1.2510 BS: (British) BO1 Also the temperatures were in fahrenheit.. But I was wondering, if a creme brulee kitchen torch gets to 1,5000C/27032F How well would that work? It is cheaper than a propane torch and supposedly gets even warmer...

[@PatrickSullivan]

Win: Thanks for the info on names for tool steel in other countries. I had no idea. Also, I apologize for not including Celsius temps. When I started these videos, I did not realize that such a large part of my audience was outside the USA. I am trying to do a better job for my worldwide viewers now. I think the kitchen torches use butane, rather than propane, but that is not an important difference. You just need a large enough flame to engulf the blade so that you get fairly uniform heating. If you can get the entire business end of the tool to a bright red color, the heat treating should work regardless of the fuel you use.

[@manasnandurkar1076]

@@PatrickSullivan where can i use these tool??

[@TVBASICINFO]

Such a great, informative and professional video. Well done Pat, just don't end up doing TVshop commercials, keep your credibility. Having said that, you'll be forgiven for advertising ladies in transparent bikinis (if and when they are invented) :)

[@bw4827]

subscribed

[@li2ttle]

The heating can be done with the stove?

[@PatrickSullivan]

Joao: I am not sure if you can do the heat treating on a kitchen stove with a gas burner. The flame on my propane torch is much larger than the flame on my stove. However, if you can orient the tool so about 3cm of it are in the hot part of the flame, it might work. If I hold a nail in the flame of my stove, it certainly gets a bright red color.

[@JohnSmith-ng3no]

Excuse me Patrick i'm a novice so the question is, you only have to do this process (hardening) once when the tool goes blunt you just sharpen it with the sand paper is this correct?

[@PatrickSullivan]

John: You are correct. You only need to harden once. After that, you just sharpen when the tool becomes dull. You can use any sharpening method you want, but sandpaper is an excellent choice for these small tools.

[@meshariashmrri8145]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@justindonaway8031]

It will also become non-magnetic once it has reached right temperature. So just grab a magnet

[@PatrickSullivan]

Steel loses magnetism at about 1450 F. If you are forging a large tool, you can stop here and quench, because the large mass of steel will hold its temperature fairly well. However, with these miniature tools, the blade will lose temperature so rapidly that it may affect the hardening. For tools as small as 1/8" diameter, you need to heat to well above the magnetic transition, so that the blade will still be above 1500 when it hits the oil.

[@petethewoodservant2481]

Hi Patrick I am a furniture designer maker just getting into carving. I am very,very impressed with your video especially the part where you temper the blade using your oven technique (which I have yet to attempt.) . I have been shown the travelling colour method but find it very easy to go too hot and therefore ruining the process and having to begin again. Do you have any idea in terms of degrees of hardness that your method has when compared with the 'Traditional' method. Thanks for sharing.

[@PatrickSullivan]

Getting the steel a little too hot for a few seconds is not a problem. Holding it at extreme temperatures for a prolonged time risks burning away some of the carbon in the alloy, but that is not going to happen in this situation. You cannot achieve that high a temp with a propane torch, and these small chisels heat up very quickly. O-1 steel will harden to about 64 on the Rockwell C scale after the oil quench. The mild tempering I have recommended will only reduce that hardness by about 1-2 numbers. I can't directly measure the hardness of my chisels, but gauging by how slowly they abrade on silicon carbide sandpaper, I estimate mine are roughly 62-63. I think they are just about perfect for this purpose.

[@petethewoodservant2481]

Thanks very much

[@mustamuri]

✨🧸✨ 🙂

[@PseudoSarcasm]

I know nothing on the subject, Why don't you leave the black oxide and only sharpen/polish the tip?

[@PatrickSullivan]

You could leave the black iron oxide. It is a fairly durable matte finish, and you can buy drill bits that come from the factory with this finish. It is a matter of taste more than function. Often the black oxide color is not uniform, and sometimes the tool just looks old or dirty. Shiny silver seems to have a lot of appeal.

[@PseudoSarcasm]

Patrick Sullivan Fair enough, as a lazy man, I was thinking of pure effectiveness, keep the ugly protective layer, polish the working end ;)

[@cid4887]

You could really see that that's one hell of informative, professional, clear, great video. thanks for sharing, it helped for real.