Heat Treating, general discussion

Wullo, What is it about carbon presence in the steel which makes it harden upon quenching? Alloys? I'm curious as to exactly why chemically and physics-ally. be merry! Archie

Hello, I was down at NAPA today talking to the counter guy about my chisels and one of the local farmers asked if I'd back them when used on a grade 8 bolt and nut, and if they where heat treated the whole lenght. I said "No, chisels aren't made for that, and that you didn't heat treat a chisel the whole lenght, just a 1" to 1 1/2" back from the cutting tip.". He then went on to tell me and a couple of other guys that had came into the store, that my chisels where "junk" and that they where worthless. Luckly the counter guy spoke up and said the chisel that NAPA sold wasn't warrentied after using them in a way that they wheren't designed for, like a grade 8 bolt. I…

Hey ive been trying to remember all the temper colers and there uses(like what color to temper what). i know for chisles its a straworange, but i tried to remember knives and blades and just couldent figure it out. i also am haveing trouble with makeing a few tools. Here is the list - Tongs, - cut off hardy - spring fuller - flater - hardy fuller - and a bickern. if some one could help me out it would be apritiated.

I want to know where to get heat treating oil.

Any suggestions on tempering H13 steel for punches/chisels. Ordered annealed but got prehardened. Sucks cause I'm going to have to soften before machining...TNX.,Keith

In another thread someone mentioned iron that shattered or broke when quenched. What could cause this?

Does anyone have any info on how to heat treat 1095 carbon steel using the Japanese claying method? And what method and temp do you temper after the heat treating? Thanks, Katsumoto

I want to make my own bench-mounted shear for cutting sheet & small sized rods. Its pretty simple to fabricate, but... I would welcome any suggestions about the correct temper for the two cutting edges. Please don't tell me the temperatures in degrees! Colours to look for or comparisons to other tools' tempers (e.g. punches, hammers, springs, hammers etc.) are the kind of guides I'd like. The steel I'll be using is old vehicle leaf-spring. Many thanks in anticipation of useful advice given.

About salt water quenching, how does that act on the metal as in terms of hardness, does it make it brittle by cooling too rapidly or does it make it harder than normal water quenching?

I see reference to normalising but don't understand it. Annealing, hardening and tempering I understand but normalising?? Any help?

have just finished a diagonal peen hammer and would like any tips for hardening. So far I have drawn a temper on face and peen to a light purple But feel this face could be harder. Will it 'case' harden with prolonged use? would appreciate any comments thanks paul.

Does anyone know how to get/make spring metal (like for a crossbow's bow)?:confused: Thanks!

ok well i am at the stage now where i can start to maby sell stuff so i need to know how to quench.. i ushally just drop my thing im a tub of water when im done... i want things that are delicate like a small leaf hook to be strong so when the owner is hammerin it in if he misses and hits the leaf it wont shatter... just need to know how to make things strong and last..i paint alot of things also..i use cheap paint (2 49 a can) unless it will be used heavy duty.. also if i want to paint a bbq fprl is it safe to paint the fork end or shpuld i keep it unpainted and real shiny

Stress Releave Springs Hi all --- I need to build some springs to repair a car lock -- I under stand if I use a spring and re form / bend it to the required shape to make the new spring, I need to stress releave it --- Some spring will be Stainless Springs and some Spring Steel --- Can any one tell me some different technics of doing this, and the temperature's needed to achieve this ---Thanks could I melt some lead and put the reformed spring onto the molten lead -- what ease ways are there of telling the temperature of the lead---

After reading many posts in this website on heating steel to nonmagnetic for normalizing or quenching, please be aware that steel (actually iron) loses magnetism around 1400 degrees (Curie point). The lower critical temperture for steel is 1333 degrees, and the upper critical temperature varies with carbon content. For pure iron, and low carbon steels, the upper critical is well above 1650 degrees. The upper critical temperature decreases as carbon increases, and for 0.83% carbon, the there is only a single critical temperature (1333, the eutectoid point). Between the lower and upper critical temperature, steel is transforming from ferrite & typically pearlite int…

Hi I just found the forums here and it looks like a lot of great info. I am looking to get some advice on making some of my own tools that I can use at work. The material that I would make these tools out of would can be 3/8" or 1/2" soiled round steel rod that would be cut to about 2'-3' in length. Then I would put a couple bends in the rods where need, and after that they would need to be hardened. These tools would be used for pushing dents out of steel panels and here is a pic to get an idea of the tool design I am after. I have a local metal supply store where I should be able to pick out any type of metal. But one of my questions is what type is the best as f…

Hi guys, I've done all the searches I can think of and haven't found any direct instructions on easily heat treating 1045 steel without being able to directly measure high temperatures, so can anyone offer any advice on doing it properly sans thermocouple/pyrometer? I've made a hammer and followed the only basic hardening/tempering instructions I did find, which simply said to heat to a nice cherry red, quench 1" or so of the face end, polish quickly and wait for the blue color to develop, then quench fully. Well that didn't work worth a xxxx LOL The specific directions I found call for heating to 1500F then allowing slow cooling, reheating to 1500F then quenching…

I need to forge a bigger/heavier spring for my leg vice and haven't been able to find the skinny on putting the spring back in a spring after it's been annealed and worked over. I tried using I-forge search and found a million things to make from a spring, but not much on actually making a spring. Any and all pearls of wisdom regarding springs are greatly appreciated as long as you keep it simple (this spring isn't going to the moon). Thanks

hello! I made a hammer,it is almost ready,i'd just need an advice about heat treating.As i read,ijust need local heating at the pein.my questions were: 1 i have an o/a cutting torch,but no rosebud.Is it useable for the cause? 2 about tempering-colurs like usual? (i have a quite soft anvil) 3 the middle stay as it is? (no heat treating at all?) thanks in advance for helping,i just didnt want experimenting with that piece of metal(easier to ask first). Thanks!

Hi. I came upon this interesting link. Heat Treatment To summarize, the document advocates quenching in brine, interrupting the quench at 900F (no color), air cooling, then slow cooling from 400F or so on down. I tried this, and was not able to get my steel to harden (pallet strapping and bandsaw blade). The alloy is hardenable, as the pallet strapping tested out at about 50-60 points of carbon (not 1095!!!!). Interestingly enough, when I annealed the steel in ashes (dead soft), there was a hard spot where the tongs gripped it. According to the explanations and the TTT diagram, the technique should work. It is very similar to marquenching or Intensiquenching. H…

Ok so here is what is left of the #8 pound sledge, I have not weighed it yet, (But I would guess under 4 pounds) but wanted to temper it tonight, I was hoping to get some ideas on the best way or at least a good way. thanks for the help.

ok ive tempered a hand full of chisels and fullers and knives, all of them i would anneal in sand, then harden in oil, then heat up again and run the colors until i got the color i wanted and then quench in oil, well i am now making a anvil tool for my treadle hammer, 1" by 4" by 6" block with a hardy shank attached, to drop in the tool post, what im wondering is how to temper it, i annealed it in my forge for a few hours to real the stress it had for welding on the shank, then i hardened it in water, some kinda of low tool steel not quight sure what but some carbon, it hardened alright, a file would only cut into it a little bit, well with how large it is i was going t…

Gday all, Had an interesting conversation the other day with a jewellery artist who uses industrial supplies to make jewellery. We were talking about stainless steel and heat colouring. So does stainless show temper colours? I know, I should just throw a bit in the forge and find out...... Regards Rusty_iron Brisbane, Oz.

Hi guys I've been lurking in the backround for a while and have really enjoyed the forum. I have recently come across a small problem I was hoping some one here could help me with. I am building a Kinyon style hammer and have machined a dove tailed sow block and some variouse dies to fit it. I wasn't thinking when I picked the steel and went with three different types of tol steel because thats what I had on hand. I forgot that hardening is by material type. So thats $100 per type of steel to treat. Taking away all the savings from using the steel I had on hand. My question is has anyone here had success heat treatin heavy ish pieces in a forge. I'm considering doin…

hi guys, ive got access to a whole lot of 7mm rod that id like to heat treat for speargun spears.my question is does anyone have a good method of heating a long rod evenly ,and more importantly a way ov keeping it straight thru the whole process.i thought about welding the ends of the rod to fixed points so they cant move, but i think they would sag when they get to a heat treating tempurature.your input would be appreciated. thanks, casey