[TheForge] Ed- heat treating S-7

[George Dixon]

I use S1 and S7 for both hot and cold chasing tools and chisels.
I teat them the same way;
I forge them at a dark yellow   as in just after orange
I forge them as little as possible to form the blank prior to cold stock 
removal
After the forged blank has been belt sanded or filed to shape I take it 
back to yellow to normalize it, as in removing stress induced by forging.
The less stress induced by forging, the less normalizing needed
The finished blank is taken back to yellow and quenched in brine (salty 
enough to float a spud)

A bladed tool is honed sharp as a last step....too thin a blade is hard 
to keep at the same color as the shank
For treadle hammer tooling, I heat treat the entire tool....except for a 
half-inch on the end so it will not spall when struck.

G Dixon