I have been a long time admirer of the work displayed on this forum, and finally decided to buy some blades and try to put together some knives for me and my two sons. Although none of them came out looking like my drawing, and I made a lot of mistakes, I'm still pretty happy with them. They have 2 3/4 blades, and are 6 1/4 inches long. My question is about hot blueing the blades. I blued the guards with a solution of sodium hydroxide and ammonium nitrate at a temperature of about 260 degrees F. If I do another one and try to blue the blade, is this hot enough to mess up the temper of the blade?
(http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/a625/mmphoto49/IMG_6585c_zps3a4f75a9.jpg) (http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/mmphoto49/media/IMG_6585c_zps3a4f75a9.jpg.html)
No. Most blade steels are tempered at 350*F or hotter. You're good to go. :thumbsup:
Nice little knives.
Darcy :campfire:
Darcy, thank you for your reply, I really appreciate the help. I think I will give it a try.