Tempering spring steel on the first try? Nope, snapped 3 leaves flat out

Last month I grabbed a set of old leaf springs from a junkyard in Dayton for $25 and figured I'd finally make a decent wood splitter wedge. I got the forge hot, quenched in oil, then tried to temper in the oven at 400F like some tutorial said. Within an hour, two of the three leaves cracked clean through when I hit them with a hammer. The third one warped so bad I couldn't even mount it. I think the steel was too thin or I didn't normalize it enough before hardening. Should I just buy pre-tempered stock from a supplier next time, or is there a better way to test for proper hardness without ruining more pieces? I've got one more leaf left and I don't want to waste it.

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