The simplest effective heat treat you'll do is as follows:
Get yourself a small magnet (metallic type, not the flexy rubber fridge mags), preferably on a metal extendable rod (one of the magnet pickup tools works for me, but you'll see what I mean).
With whatever heatsource you have, slowly bring the steel up to a dull cherry red. As it begins to turn red, test the steel with the magnet. When the steel turns non-magnetic, you're real close. Add just a hair more heat (say half a shade hotter, if ya know what I mean), and hold that temperature for a minute or 2. Long enough for the heat to thoroughly soak the blade.
Quench in oil. A quenching oil would be best, but I use used engine oil because I have it. Others use vegitable oil, olive oil, etc. When quenching, hold the knife by the tang, edge down, blade horizontal. Agitate in the oil up and down only, to prevent one side cooling faster than the other. Submerge completely to prevent excessive flaring. Once the smoke stops coming, finish the quench in cold water. Cool all the way to room temperature.
Don't drop the knife now, it'll shatter. Very hard, very brittle. Clean off the scale to bright metal. I use a wire wheel for this, Mokwepa reports success with a couple hours of vinegar soak.
Now, preheat your kitchen oven to about 450F. Place the knife in the middle rack, directly on the rack. Bake it for about an hour. When done, the blade should be a more-or-less uniform straw yellow.
http://www.anvilfire.com/index.php?...s.htm&titleName=Temper Colors : anvilfire.com
If you'd like to go a step further at this point, have a propane torch lit when you remove the blade. Hold the blade by the point, and play the tang in the flame until it's progressed through brown to blue. This will give a springier, tougher tang. You can do the same to the tip if you see yourself prying with this knife.
WRT the temper colours in that link I provided. Typically a razor will be tempered to a very pale yellow, a pen knife to straw yellow, a hard working utility knife to a deep yellow/orange, a fighting knife to bronze - purple, a watch spring or sword to almost full purple...
This won't get the absolute most from the steel, but will get'er done. It's the basic regime village smiths have used for a thousand years.
J
