My old striker in Tulsa swore by 3 normalizing cycles and I thought it was a waste of propane

Blake Martinez · 2026-09-16T22:55:04.679196+00:00

Back when I was learning at a shop off Peoria in Tulsa, my striker Dale would not let me quench a blade after only one normalizing heat. He kept saying the grain needs two more passes or it will snap someday and I figured he was just making me burn gas for no reason. I argued with him for maybe a year, did it my way on most of my personal knives, and never had a problem I could see. Then a hunter brought back a camp knife I made from 1084 that cracked clean through the tang on a cold morning in November. Dale looked at the break, didn't say a word, just handed me his own test blade he'd done with three cycles. I bent that thing past 90 degrees in the vise and it just folded over like taffy instead of popping. That was the whole argument right there, no lecture needed. I've run three cycles ever since, even on simple stuff, and I stopped acting like I knew better than a guy who'd been at the anvil since 1979. Anyone else get humbled by a break test on a knife they were proud of?

🐿️Pinecone Attack

Loading…

My old striker in Tulsa swore by 3 normalizing cycles and I thought it was a waste of propane | Blacksmiths - Pinecone Attack