anvil Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 I have a machinist friend making a small part for my truck. he didn't want to heát treat because it would change its cross section dimension. I've never had to worry about this, and have not read anything about this happening. is this an issue where close tolerance might be a problem? thanks in advance typo corrected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Yes it can be; espeically depending on the alloy as some are more/less stable than others Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 thanks for the quick reply. does it increase in dia, assuming round? or the other way around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Yes can be the answer to both questions. (even at the same time!) www.productionmachining.com/articles/predicting-size-change-from-heat-treatment may help explain some of the complexities of your "simple" question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JNewman Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Often a small amount of extra material is left on machined parts that have to be heat treated to be surface ground off, when parts need to be precise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 The short answer is "yes". I work in a machine shop where we produce (among other things) ground dowel pins for engine blocks. Dimensions vary with size but the tolerances are typically +.0000/-.0003. The pins have to be hardened and we cannot reliably turn to a 3 tenths window anyway so we run them large, heat treat and finally send them to a grinding house to bring to size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Most tool steels include that information in their data sheets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 thanks all. its never been an issue, so its never crossed my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Thomas, just finished the article. good info. yup, all you got to do is,,, heat it and beat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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