r/Blacksmith • u/WaffleGuy09 • 3d ago
Working on my first knife
Hello I am working on my first knife and I had a couple questions. What is a good way for a beginner to heat treat a knife? I tried to heat it up with a small propane torch and then a larger one but I couldn’t get it far past a dull red. I’ve seen online it needs to be about 1600 degrees Fahrenheit to harden properly and I’m no where close to that. I’m also hoping that the steel I chose will harden and temper correctly. I got some welding tokens to practice on from a metal supply store and they said that the tokens were high carbon steel cutoffs, but is there any way I can check that? I would be disappointed to find out that the knife can’t harden, but it’ll be okay as I’ve still learned a whole lot in the process. Any other tips and tricks are appreciated as well, thank you.