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I Forge Iron

possibly stupid hardness question


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Over the last few months that I've been a member here (and blacksmithing), I've read several references to metal hardness that are, quite frankly confusing to me. Specifically, in referring to the use of springs or files for knife making, flint strikers or tools

What's confusing to me is this...

While these are good very hard metals, once you've brought the metal up to a very bright heat, doesn't this hardness go away until a proper quench/heat treat happens? Or is there something I'm missing in the metalurgy class I forgot to go to? :D

Thanks,

David

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High carbon steels are harder/tougher to work than low carbon steels even when just normalized.

But yes they are not nearly as hard as they will get when properly heat treated for hardness.

We tend to talk about them with their possible hardness in mind even when their current state is pretty soft. So file steel is a high carbon *hard* steel that actually might be pretty soft if you have annealed it.

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Often a reasonable level of hardness is achieved, intentionally or not, through air cooling. Interestingly enough if a type steel is heated above its proper hardening temperature, and grain refinement heat cycles (normalizations) are not performed then the steel will become more brittle than it should be. This is an important concern for tools as well as for blades.

Phil

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