How long, at what temperature, and how many times to you heat an old file to temper it? I know this is kind of a loaded question.
I made a makeshift forge last week to work on some knives. I annealed a blade I had cut from an old gravely blade and did a small (old) nicholson file at the same time. I finished up the gravely blade knife and heat treated it and tempered it in a toaster oven at about 375 degrees for an hour. It seemed to work out fine and sharpened up good. I hacked on a piece of hickory (seasoned) with it and it still held a pretty good edge.
Now the file softened up really good and I shaped it and beveled the blade. Then I reheated it and quenched it in warmed used motor oil. It hardened back up. Next I put it in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for about an hour and a half. After it cooled I tried to work the bevel a little more and could barely cut it with a file. So I repeated the tempering process again. It seemed to cut a little better but it's still really hard. Any help? I seem to remember seeing a chart on here somewhere with times and temps. for tempering different steels but I can't seem to find it.
Thanks. Aaron