I temper swords up to 26" long in my kitchen oven ! I do this by laying sword diagonally across oven make sure you clean off the oil or the lady will get PO that parks stinks like hell . Aldo has some really great w-2 and 1075 its real nice for swords , low manganese ! it seems to quench better without breakin, cracking . A torch with a big burner about 2-3 in. across works pretty darn good . I used to do hamons with a torch that also works pretty good . Good luck on the new piece . Making them swords is a lot different than knives , them long pieces of steel are sensitive . I f it bends the wrong way after quench , you can use a wooden mallet or the side of a 2x4 to straighten it but, the window is very short about 1 minute or less after quench ,after it cools a little its fully hardened . Have one I am doing hamon on today its made from 9260 makes great swords and because it has 2% silicon its tough as hell . Does a great hamon also . Take care ...... Bubba