[TheForge] Temper colors

[Peter Fels & Phoebe Palmer]

Martin, you are not going to see any temper colors below around 325*F, so it's something else going on.
I don't know of any surface treatment after polishing, for carbon steel knives, that will last .
Certain foods will stain steel, especially if allowed to soak a while.
Properly, good old carbon steel knives are rinsed and wiped dry soon after use, unlike stainless.
Otherwise they'll pick up a thin surface bloom of rust surprisingly quickly
If you are cutting fatty meat or the like, this is less likely to happen as quickly.

On Jan 7, 2014, at 7:24 AM, martin marks wrote:

I understand "temper colors" was probably the wrong way to describe it. It only happens when slicing hot food and produces multi-colored discoloration similar to the temper colors. Best way I could describe it. This doesn't happen when slicing cold foods. In either case, what can be done so the blade will not oxidize so quickly? 
--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 1/7/14, Bruce . <freemab222 at gmail.com> wrote:

Subject: Re: [TheForge] Temper colors
To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Date: Tuesday, January 7, 2014, 10:06 AM

This sounds incredible.  Seems
to me that temperatures of at least 400F are
needed to get temper colors -- and that's pretty hot for
meat.  Are you
sure that's what you're seeing, not some other kind of
discoloration?
Bright metal can discolor for a number of reasons, including
oxidation
(rusting), and, after all, temper colors are just thin
layers of oxide.

Bruce
NJ


On Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 9:38 AM, martin marks <jigsawman2000 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Good morning gang,
> 
> I have a rookie question. I have been forging knives
for friends of mine
> for some practice. I have heat treated, hardened, and
tempered them then
> polished the blades to a high mirror finish. They look
ok but I have found
> that when they are used to slice hot meats like a roast
or steak, the
> temper colors run the blade again and ruin the finish.
I assume the blade
> has to be treated to prevent this issue.  Any
advice? Thanks guys.
> 
> 
> Zach
> 
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