[Lukas MG]

This is how I straighten bent blades:

You need: Soft wood/plastic brackets in a vice, small blow-torch, high grit sandpaper and a bowl of water (and the sword)

GENTLY heat the area of the bend to straw yellow (oxidation color about 180°C, not yellow glow!!), pay special care to the edges, being thinner they can heat up real quick. Then quickly insert in vice (jaws slightly open so you can insert the blade easily, but close enough so you can precisely flex the blade at the right spot) and flex in opposite direction (it takes some experience and feel for the steel, usually one has to over-flex, just straight isn't enough). Immediately take out, check and cool in water. If straight, sand of the color and reheat again to straw for stress release. If still bent, sand, reheat and repeat process.

This process is a bit tricky and takes some courage because you're taking a heat source to the blade which CAN ruin the heat treat if you go too far. However, done properly it is the best way because it's the least stressful for the blade. Working under a bright light source helps when judging the colors.

[Glen A Cleeton]

He has mentioned a couple of times having no tools. Straw color heat is too hot for this, it will affect temper. A lower heat is all that is needed to relax it a bit. A stove top burner and your foot will work just fine.

Whatever

Cheers

GC

[David Lewis Smith]

[Jean Thibodeau]

Lukas's method seem sound if a bit risky without some practice at bringing a piece of steel to straw yellow colour and not heating the edges too much.

If the steel turns blue you are in the zone where you may be softening the temper too much.

At straw colour you are still below the temperature where a 50 R.C. blade would risk becoming softer than it already is. ( Different steels might behave differently if it's an air hardening steel, but for simple carbon steel it should be O.K. ).

One alternative would need a heat source, a large piece of steel that could be heated to around 500°F that could serve as a heat sink and some tool to move the heavy piece of steel.

What one could do is heat the steel heat sink using a propane torches or maybe put the heavy block of steel in an oven set at 500°F and leave it in the oven long enough for the whole mass to achieve a uniform heat.

Take the block of steel out of the stove using some sort of tongs and put it on a surface that will safely hold the steel and not catch on fire.

A heavy mass will stay hot long enough to heat the sword blade to straw colour by putting the blade in physical contact with the heat sink and the blade should heat up nicely with a lot of control by touching the hot metal and moving it around.

So the heat sink should be a heavy piece of steel maybe 4" X3" X 12" minimum I think for it to hold it's heat long enough to do the job.

A more massive heat sink will stay at a useful heat longer.

I have seen and done this techniques decades ago in a machine shop class to temper tools after quenching.

Luka's method is the same after the sword blade has been heated, I'm just suggesting an alternate way to get the sword hot enough to repair and also to stabilize and stresses by heating a second time after the blade has been straitened.

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Lukas MG]

Steel starts turning to straw color at a temperature of around 180-200°C which equals a blade hardness of over 60Rc. Albions are low to mid 50s so there's NO damage to the heat treat of the blade if you don't go a good deal hotter. You don't have to go to straw color, you can stay a bit lower but not too much (or you might just as well straighten cold) so for a beginner it's easier to have a visual guide, i.e. the beginning of the lightest straw color. You're also heating the blade up in the middle (obviously easier with wide blades), ideally using a torch head with a very concentrated flame, all to avoid heating up the edges too much.

But you're right, I missed that he has no tools, sorry about that.

[Glen A Cleeton]