How To Forge A Knife From A File. Im nearing the end of a file knife, and i just annealed it by heating it evenly then turning off the air supply to the coke in the forge and allowed it to cool overnight hope this helps monty. If the file cuts the steel of your blade, it is not as hard as it should be.
Heat until yellow using your tongs, grasp the steel and heat it in a forge to the point where the color turns yellow (around 2,100 to. I've outlined the steps below so that most everyone can complete this and move on to more exciting filework. Link to post share on other sites.
You could also use a technique called back face shearing to trim off the tang or the end of the blade.
Once the knife is ready for a handle i harden and temper the blade. It will be blackened from the burnt oil, so you need to take the time to clean it back to bright. Or you could hot cut the tang off the other end of the file. Properly melting metals can be a bit dangerous in our home.