Rate this post by selecting a number. 1 is the worst and 5 is the best.

Author Message   Mattboston Tinkerer Username: Mattboston Post Number: 25 Registered: 01-2009 Rating: N/A Votes: 0 Posted on Sunday, July 17, 2011 - 06:03 pm:    Hi Hank, Love the modified pliers- but some notes on steel hardness that you may already know: If you heated those pliers up to red, then let them cool down at room temperature, you have effectively annealed the steel and made it as soft as can be. To harden them, re-heat them to red (the tips) and as soon as you see red, dunk them into a bucket of water while sloshing it around- you want to cool them asap. Now they are are hard, and brittle as can be. Once cooled in the water (or oil), re-heat with the torch- and as soon as the tips turn blue, quench them in water or oil. Now you have heat-hardened tool steel. Don't apply the flame directly to the tips, you need to watch the color change there, hit it a bit lower and you will be able to see the change- and polish up the tips after each stage- this will remove soot and other marks which can make seeing the color change difficult. Good luck, I love seeing homemade tools. Matt