On Sat, 6 Mar 2004 15:03:58 -0600, "Tim Williams" wrote:
After much pain and anguish forging (hot and cold), annealing, filing and
sanding a nice 12" blade blank in 1090 (former beefy nail set), I've heat
treated it (all except the tang end is file hard) and it's currently in the
oven at 350 or 400 for the next hour. But it's got two good kinks in the
previously perfect straightness. And that'll make sharpening with a flat
stone annoying ... not to mention making it look stupid overall.
Suggestions?

Quenching high carbon steel without warping it is an art.
You can't just chunk the blade into the quench any old
way. The exact way you'd do it depends on the particular
blade shape, thickness, and size, but for most of the
blades I've made, I get best results by *slicing* it into
the coolant edge first, then vigorously moving it around
once it is submerged.

I doubt you'll be able to remove the warp in hardened
1090 by cold working. I suspect you're going to have
to anneal it, straighten it, and reheat treat it.

Gary