December 28, 201015 yr Can anyone give me a procedure for hardening and tempering 52100 steel in the forge Thanks Mike Tanner
December 29, 201015 yr Mike, My info is from an old bulletin,* which lacks tempering temperatures. Normalize 1,600 - 1,700F Anneal 1,400 - 1,450F Harden 1,500 - 1,550F in oil In 1966, the typical percentage analysis of E 52100 was: Carbon .95 - 1.10 Manganese .25 - .45 Silicon .20 - .35 Chromium 1.30 - 1.60 * "Heat Treatment and Properties of Iron and Steel", National Bureau of Standards Monograph 88, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1966.
December 29, 201015 yr Author Thanks Frank I googled it and the tempering temp is 400 degrees if I read it right I have 3 sticks of it 3/4 dia and 2 sticks of it 1/2 inch dia. It is some pretty tough steel Mike
December 30, 201015 yr Hey Mike ,goggle Ed Fowler.52100 is all he use`s for his knives.His books give you the steps he use`s for heat treating.
January 31, 201115 yr Can anyone give me a procedure for hardening and tempering 52100 steel in the forge Thanks Mike Tanner Hi Mike, here's Ed Fowler's phone number: ***-***-**** I got it off his web site and called him a few days ago to ask a question about 01 tool steel. He said he likes 52100, and talked with me about how to heat treat it but I don't remember what he said. Give him a call, he'll explain it. Lots of experts say he's the go-to guy for 52100, that he invented a new, more effective way to heat treat it. I used a jig saw to cut some deer hook knives out of hardened 52100, and I'll tell you what: you want that stuff annealed before you cut it! David Phone number removed, due to permission lacking from owner
January 31, 201115 yr Folks there is no one temperature for tempering! Would you use 400 degF if you were making a hammer head from it?, A fillet knife?, An axe? The devil is in the details!
January 31, 201115 yr Mike, what are you plannig to do with the 52100? I've just accuired some 1 1/4"dia stuff, 2ea 3' joints along with 3' of 410SS 1.5"dia, 3' of 4140 1.75"dia, and 3' of low carbon 2.5"dia. Just wondering what would be good to use the 52100 and 410SS on. Don't want to make trinkets for sure!! I was told the 52100 work hardens pretty fast.
January 31, 201115 yr Yeah I used a brearing race to make a knife the other month. Dear lord was it a tough material.
February 22, 201115 yr 52100, and W2 are two of my favorite knife making steels, except for pattern welding, and that's 1084/15n20. I was going to look up the numbers for you tonight. Depends also on if you're using a HT oven, or HT'ing with a Ox/Act torch (Ed's favorite method, and he's darned good at it!).
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