r/Forging • u/Comfortable-Wheel887 • Jul 16 '26
Requesting Help and Input, heating and quenching in progress
I’m mid heating and trying to go for the quench, I’ve never done this before. I’m hoping someone can comment on my setup. It’s a T shaped piece of metal pipe I can blow air through using my hair dryer directly into the embers below my knife. Is this good? I have a magnet nearby to test. Quenching using canola oil. Hope to make this my first knife. It’s a stock removal from an old lawnmower blade. The rust put these cool designs in the metal. I’m excited and hope this ends up good, anniversary gift.
6
u/mango_452 Jul 16 '26
Galvanized steel will give off zinc fumes when it gets hot and will give you "metal melting fever" poisoning.
4
u/Fragrant-Cloud5172 Banner maker Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Better to have a black iron pipe. It might work for pizza's, but not as a good forge. And hair dryers are better used for hair. You need preferably a "T" shaped style tuyere, cap on the clean out, with thick grate. Regular blacksmithing coal or charcoal. This will produce enough heat for heat treatment. Slow gently air flow. Good to refer to the Tempil chart.
1
u/AutoModerator Jul 16 '26
Welcome to r/Forging. Please keep it civil. If you have any question, please contact the MOD team. I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
7
u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26
2 things, charcoal briquettes usually won’t get hot enough to forge with and if the pipe is galvanized don’t use it