[ithacaartist]

The salient aspect of strawing is to take the parts to the temperature that turns their surface molecules the desired color. If you want to avoid hot chemicals, the expense of a half of a tank of propane, and the need to do it outdoors, the simple secret is to use a toaster oven. The problem most who do it with an oven encounter is uneven heating, which results in uneven colors.

My technique uses a good ol' toaster oven and a steel dish of sand. The oven must be dialed in by trial and error the first time to achieve the correct temperature. Start at a reasonable temp close to what you want and complete the process below. If the part is too light, trun the dial and raise the temp, and repeat the process. If the part is too dark, re-polish it, lower the temp, and try again. After that, marking the spot on the dial will enable you to reproduce the desired temperature for future projects.

The container of sand is a buffer that ensures even heating of the parts. Otherwise, putting in unprotected parts exposes them to the radiant heat of the electric element, which is capable of heating thin areas of the parts to a temp that is too high, resulting in discoloration in that area when finished.

Just heat the sand inside the oven until everything is warmed to the correct temp. Snuggle the parts into the sand, return the container containing it all into the oven, and wait 30-45 minutes. After that, you can pull the perfectly strawed parts out, wait until they're cooled enough to handle, wipe with an oil dampened rag, and Bob's your uncle.

Quenching is absolutely unnecessary, although some folks do it, I suppose because they want to waste their time. The temperature for strawing does not affect previous heat treating or hardness of the steel.