Reyd Dorakeen wrote:

and also a way of identifying what carbon steel Ive got, the store selling
said it was drill rod, but they didnt know any more then that.

Heat a piece of it red hot then plonk it into a can of oil. Test
hardness with a file. The file should skate off the piece if it is fully
hardened. Try the same act with a can of water. If it is water
hardening, it will not be as hard as it can get if quenched in oil. If
it is oil hardening, it may split when quenched in water, though not
reliably. :-)

Once it's hardened, you temper it by heating it in an oven, or polish
it a bit and heat it slowly with a torch. You can roughly judge the
temperature by the change in color. Once the desired color is reached,
quench it in water to stop the temper ing from going any further.

That's the real short version.

Cheers
Trevor Jones