Re: tempering a miners pick??

From	Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere>
Newsgroups	alt.crafts.blacksmithing
Subject	Re: tempering a miners pick??
Date	2025-10-09 03:32 -0300
Organization	Bridgewater Institute for Advanced Study - Blacksmith Shop
Message-ID	<87ecrcoaag.fsf@enoch.nodomain.nowhere> (permalink)
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On Wed, 08 Oct 2025 21:45:01 +0000,
Johnny566 <f44136941ceb9ab7be9d837a28ca6b42@example.com> writes:

> My dad says his uncle Pete had a mine and they use to sharpen
> picks.... then queltch temper them by dipping them in water till the
> reflection coming off water ....was a light gold color then then it
> was time to ....remove them from water when they saw that
> color?..... .....
> 
> For full context, visit https://www.polytechforum.com/blacksmithing/tempering-a-miners-pick-5463-.htm

I don't really understand that description about reflection in the water.

I'd try to keep the entire body of the pick as soft as possible,
viz. allow to air-cool after forging.  Then clean the surface near the
point, heat to red near the, quench maybe 1" in water or brine,
waiting till no red heat was visible above the water.  Then wait for
the colors to run down from the unquenched region until the point was
"straw" color and fully quench.

A potential error is to quench the tip but take it out of the water
while part is still red-hot. Colors run down very quickly so the final
quench may occur while part above the tip is still red.  The result
will be far to hard & brittle above the point so that it will break
easily in that region.

Yes, I learned that by getting distracted in a demo and doing the
final quench while the workpiece (cold chisel) was still partly red.
It shattered -- fortunately in my gloved hand so no one was hit by
fragments) -- when I tried to demonstrate how hard the edge was by
driving it through a cold bad.  Mea culpa.  Never did that again.

-- 
Mike Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada

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Re: tempering a miners pick?? Johnny566 <f44136941ceb9ab7be9d837a28ca6b42@example.com> - 2025-10-08 21:45 +0000
  Re: tempering a miners pick?? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2025-10-09 03:32 -0300

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