Thread: Crucible steel file

That setup looks nice. A couple of tips:

You'll notice it will take a long time to dry out. You can help that along by filling it with charcoal and lighting it, first time, don't force air through it, just make sure it can draw air on its own and let the fire burn out on its own.
Use only charcoal, not briquettes. The briquettes will leave a lot of clay residue which will instantly smother the fire as soon as they are spent.
You'll always want at least 3 to 4 inches of charcoal burning between the air inlet and your workpiece. Otherwise you are blowing 'cold' air over your piece.
Your setup will work nicely for razor sized objects. If you want to make larger obejcts, you need to have a way to move your piece over the hotspot. This means taking a piece out of the front and back where you can slide your object through.

Great advice, thanks Bruno. I've just lit a small fire with charcoal and it's drying out nice and slow. With a bit of luck il be fully operational tonight.

To all intents and purposes 'cast steel' is the same as 'crucible steel' which is the same as 'acier fondue' which is the same as 'wootz' steel - all were made in relatively small pours in a crucible. The term refers to casting it into an ingot from which the file, razor, or whatever is then wrought. It doesn't mean the article was cast in the 'moulded' sense.

Regards,
Neil

Thanks Neil, it was 'cast' that threw me, I initially thought of cast iron, etc. I'm learning about all these different types of steel, and for someone who has only ever worked with mild steel from a forge/ fabrication aspect there's a lot to take in. I'm just trying to keep things simple and not over complicate things at this stage.

While I remember, Bruno, I've heard you mention using a coffee can to help even the heat, I can't picture what you mean??

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

To all intents and purposes 'cast steel' is the same as 'crucible steel' which is the same as 'acier fondue' which is the same as 'wootz' steel - all were made in relatively small pours in a crucible. The term refers to casting it into an ingot from which the file, razor, or whatever is then wrought. It doesn't mean the article was cast in the 'moulded' sense.

Regards,
Neil

Not entirely sure I agree that it would be the same as wootz. That depends on the type and amount of alloying elements. Without those dendritic strucutres, crucible steel is not wootz.

Originally Posted by Manchestertattoo

While I remember, Bruno, I've heard you mention using a coffee can to help even the heat, I can't picture what you mean??

The coffee can wasn't the best. My current approach works better, though it is the same in principle.
Basically, when you are heat treating, you want a nice, even, controllable heat source. Open flames are not ideal because the surface gets blasted by fire, and the temperature distribution is very uneven. It is much more convenient to take a piece of iron pipe, and insert that in the fire. The pipe will start to glow, and create a homogenous heat source for anything you stick in the pipe.

The makes it easier to heat a workpiece evenly to the correct temperature and keeping the surface clean. You also don't risk bending or damaging the piece as it goes into the pipe, whereas poking it in a fire might do so.

Ahh, I get you. Il have a rummage and see what I have lying around. I'm hoping to fire it up tonight and ht my razor, have to buy a few litres of oil yet.

I love these type of threads, the learning process from start to finished product. Manchestertattoo will soon be hooked & there will be no turning back!

Originally Posted by Bruno

Not entirely sure I agree that it would be the same as wootz. That depends on the type and amount of alloying elements. Without those dendritic strucutres, crucible steel is not wootz.

I agree, but I did say to all intents and purposes Disregarding alloying elements, any steel made in a crucible is crucible steel. All we are doing here is keeping it simple by segregating it from puddled steel, bloomery steel,, blister steel, shear steel, etc.

Wootz is indeed an example of crucible steel. Any standard reference work covering crucible steels which makes mention of wootz will tell you that.

Regards,
Neil