Thread: Annealing

The forge is coming along. If all goes well I'll give it a test run on Saturday night after the kids go to bed.
Couple of questions though.
I plan on making a couple of file knives first to get a feel for the whole process. First I will anneal them by taking them to non-magnetic and soaking it for a couple of minutes, removing and allowing to cool.
When cooling, can I just sit the steel on a brick or BBQ plate, should I stick it in some sand and cover? I'm not sure what the best way is, so opinions would be appreciated.
One more thing, when using charcoal, do you put out the fire or just let it burn itself out.
I'll be sure to post some pics for those interested.
Thanks
Grant

I would not use sand, as sand is pretty conductive to heat.
A bucket of ashes would be a very good low cost solution. Leave the steel to soak at non magnetic, and then stick it in a bucket of ashes. Alternatively, just douse your fire with ashes and leave it to cool off very slowly. Both will work. It just depends on what is the most convenient.

A word of warning though: you'd be surprised at how long steel will retain its heat in a bucket of ashes.
Don't go rummaging around with your bare hands after only a couple of hours, because you might burn them.

Ashes are good insulating material. A non flammable type of vermiculite will work too. Ash, or the like, is good because you can suspend your material, surrounded by insulation. Laying a blade to cool on something like brick is okay but it should be a brick that does not increase conduction, definitely not a metal surface. Even then you have one side still radiating heat into the near environment.

What you want to do is slow down the rate of cooling so you're left with material that is much softer to work with. There are several other technical ways that work but require more equipment, no need to feed TAD right now.

Bruno's reminder to approach irons like this with care should be remembered. Use the back of your hand first to sense heat, don't grab any black iron that you aren't sure of the temperature. Tongs, vise grips, pliers are much better than your fingers when in doubt.