Charlotte Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Can 52100 be heat treated by eye ball or does it really need exact temps and times? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Well,Charlotte,all steel likes as much precision as possible,but 52100 especially...It can be eyeballed,i do it all the time,but then again-i'm horrid about stuff like that. So,if you ask me,i'd say normalise(as many times as you've patience for),quench into waste oil from just above magnetic,temper several 1-2 hour cycles at,say,400F. Here's some more civilised info,though:Testing edge holding and toughness on 52100 - British Blades :: Custom Knife Making Best of luck,Jake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jake pogrebinsky Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 P.S.The 400F,of course,can be reached in any household oven or toaster oven.Oxidation color-wise i suppose it'd correspond to blue/purple. All that,naturally,is contingent on the nature of the object that you're trying to make. Getting comfortable HT'ing 52100 is useful,as many bearings are made of it,and it's one of the most common scavengebles.http://www.suppliersonline.com/propertypages/52100.asp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viking-sword Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 I make most of my knifes with blades less than five inches out of 52100. I've found it critical in getting the heat treating precise in order to get the most out of it( I suspect folks expect more out it due to all the hype it's gotten). If it's normalized and hardened well, I've found that you must temper at at least 430 t0 450 before the edge will no longer chip out, but that needs to be tested on each blade to make sure that the knife doesn't come back to you for edge repairs. Wes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 Thank you for the great information and very intresting and useful links all. You have told me exactly what I needed to know. Thanks again, Charlotte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommerr Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 I work in an aerospace materials lab. I will look up times and temperatures for you. Any stress relieving or tempering must be done ASAP or stress cracking could occur. This is a good rule of thumb for all steels at .37% carbon or higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlotte Posted July 5, 2009 Author Share Posted July 5, 2009 I work in an aerospace materials lab. I will look up times and temperatures for you. Any stress relieving or tempering must be done ASAP or stress cracking could occur. This is a good rule of thumb for all steels at .37% carbon or higher. That would be wonderfull Tommerr! I have some numbers but good engineering number would improve my comfort level a lot!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Good info on google also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Budd Posted July 5, 2009 Share Posted July 5, 2009 Kev (Coutel) on British blades works with 52100 a lot and is VERY keen on his testing, there are a couple more threads over there that are worth checking out on the subject courtesy of him. To be honest they are the best bits of information that I've come across on actually heat treating the stuff well for knives. When I spoke to him last about it he was telling me that it's easy enough to heat treat to make a good blade. Just treat it like any other high carbon steel Make sure you normalize it well and when you raise to quenching temperature be sure to let the heat soak through completely. Quench in a fast oil and temper fairly high 225C for a good working hardness, but do the brass rod test to see what your blade is doing. He also said that to make a REALLY good blade from it take smore control, which is a matter of practice by eye and/or temperature controlled furnace/forge for hardening. Proper normalising temperatures are important and a long soak time (at the correct temp) prior to quenching are vital as they ensure that the larger more complex carbides form and form in the right parts of the solution. He also said that triple quenching really helps this steel. I've made a few little blades from it and followed his advice, but without any temperature measuring devices other than my own eyes. The blades came out really well and without any problems, but I've not had a chance to do any comparitive testing with the steels I'm more used to working with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trollkeep Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I got some armour plate, bullet proofing, that I was told was about equiv. to 52100. Does that sound right. I would like to use, but but the little bits I have done did not go as planned. David Childress Rocky Forge Blacksmith Guild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Most older armour plate were not high carbon steels wanting *tough* over hard. Nickle steels were common. I do not know much about the more modern stuff though I have been assured that some changes have been made since 1900... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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