[EdCaffreyMS]

Since writing that, I have learned more, and have modified the way I do it. The method your speaking of works, but what I do now works better. Maybe the term "thermal cycling" might be more representative than "Normalizing". Anyway, heres what I now do, and am teaching to my students....

After you've completed forging, bring the steel to 1200-1300F, which in most cases, depending on your ambient light, will be a very dull blood red. Then allow the steel to cool in still air to below 800F. This is what I refer to as my "insurance policy" because doing so will heal any grain growth that occurred. In addition, it is also stress relieving the steel. I perform this cycle 3X, then go to non-magnetic for the annealing heat, and place the steel in vermiculite.

Its basically doing the same things that I previously described, but just "better". Spectrographs have shown that the steel is achieving smaller grain size than most other methods I've had tested.

I also perform the "thermal cycling" just prior to hardening a blade, and as with the other method, it will usually eliminate any warpage.

To directly answer your question....Annealing will relieve stresses, but sometimes not all of the stress....and often times this will lead to warpage later on in the process. In my opinion, stress relieving steps are a must, and if you choose not to perform them, you may not experience probelms, but on the other hand you might......I would rather err on the side of caution, than fret about it after something has gone south.