[G. Scott H.]

Seeing all the cool projects on this site has got me interested in doing more stuff myself. The two things of most interest to me are redoing grips and tangs. I thought I might try my hand at hot peening a few tangs on something cheap and small like the blade from Atlanta Cutlery pictured below. $13 a piece. My question is: does a standard propane torch produce enough heat to be effective for this type of work? Okay, I lied, two questions: also, what's the best way to keep the rest of the blade from overheating during this process? I've read of the wet-rag-around-the-blade method, but any other effective techniques? Thanks.

[Scott Byler]

I imagine the standard propane torch might manage the heat requirement, if just barely. Ofcourse, I haven't tried it that way and haven't done a lot of hot peening overall, since as often as not the grip is a solid piece and has to be already in place.

I use the wet rag method myself, since it works well for me. And is easy and cheap. Other methods would include clamping the blade with some sort of heat sink or maybe buying some of specialty pastes that supposedly help keep heat spread to a minimum. (I haven't tried any of those so can't say a word if they work or not or what....)

In general, unless you are doing something really aggressive with your torch, you won't have to worry a lot that the heat will get that far down the blade, at least with enough heat to really mess with the heat treat. Like I said, though, this is in general...

[Peter Johnsson]

You will need an oxy-acetylen torch to do hot peening effectively.
Depending on the type of rivet you might not need to use heat: if the rivet head is small enough you might do it cold.
On a dagger you will not need a very substantial rivet head.

The fit between the hilt components and the tang is more important in this case. YOu want to go for a press fit, so that the rivet only locks things down. Then a relatively small rivet will do fine.

If you use a hot torch (a hotter torch will help you wiork quicker, thereby avoiding the heat to spread very far. Not that this is a problem for the temper of the blade, but still), you will have to make sure you normalize the rivet afterwards, or you wil enfd up with a very coarse grain in the rivet. It might even take some hardening if you´ve worked quickly. This is the opposite of a good quality rivet: coarse grain and martensite that is untempered= very brittle!
When you hot peen you *must* make sure you normalize afterwards and make sure there is no martensite left in the rivet head. Filing the rivet will tell you if it has taken hardening or not.

Done properly you can make very solid rivets with hot peening You also have the benefit of being able to forge the rivet head to shape )pyramidal, domed...)
On a dagger you might not have to do a hot peened rivet to get good solid mounting of the hilt.
The first key to success is a good firm and exact fit between the hilt components and the tang.

Good luck!

[G. Scott H.]

Thanks, Scott and Peter. I was afraid I might need a hotter torch. I guess for a while I will try the cold peening method, since I want to start out on daggers anyway and work my way up to swords. I see what you mean, Peter, about possibly hardening the rivet, when I get to the point where I'm using heat, I will certainly need to experiment around a bit to find out what works (part of the fun ). Also, I want to use mild steel stock for the hilt components (since I don't have the option of casting), any suggestions on suitable types of steel (1060, etc.)?

[Eric Meulemans]

[G. Scott H.]

Thanks, Eric. I'll give that a look. I was pricing oxy-acetylene rigs online the other day, and they can get fairly pricey. I've heard of the multiple propane method, but it was in relation to the hardening of hammers (frizzens) for flintlocks. I think I'd prefer to go the MAPP route. Thanks again.

[Aaron Schnatterly]

[G. Scott H.]

[Aaron Schnatterly]