July 3, 201411 yr I am looking to heat treat 1050 spring steel. My end customer sent me specs. 320f for 20 min and air cooled. And then a second treat for 3 hours at 340+/- 20f. My question is the second treat should I anneal or air cool to get the most spring back in the steel?
July 3, 201411 yr These are tempering temperatures; what kind of hardening is done before this? in tempering it doesn't matter if you air cool or water quench such a simple alloy as 1050.
July 3, 201411 yr Just in case Thomas statement was not clear enough, If you did not harden the steel first, tempering is useless.
July 5, 201411 yr Goldilocks found that papa bear's bed was too hard (quench hardened). Mama Bear's bed was too soft (normalized). Baby bear's bed was just right, in between the two extremes (tempered).
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