The Alchemist Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 I'm not really sure, but I think I have some t15 steel. It came from an industrial metal cutting lathe. The pieces are large, plenty to make some blades. Any and all thought welcome on this. I haven't forged any yet and I want to know if I'm going to have problems doing it. Thanks everyone! Cooper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Yes; with high amounts of Tungsten Vanadium, Cobalt it is listed as a High Speed Steel and will be *very* *difficult* to forge and heat treat. It should result in a blade with a fine grain and great edge holding IF YOU CAN WORK IT AND HEAT TREAT IT CORRECTLY, For example the ASM handbook suggests, no normalizing but a full anneal after forging with a heat to 1600 to 1650 DegF and then a cool at a MAX rate of 40 DegF per hour till you get to 1200 DegF, Hardening they suggest a preheat of 1500 to 1650 DegF and then heating to 2200 to 2300 DegF (getting close to melting temperature!) to solutionize the carbides. quote" Therefore, exceedingly accurate temperature control is required in Austenitizing High Speed steels." Lots more on how a 50 degF range in temps can affect it's properties. This is one that I with 37 years forging would send out for professional heat treating---and I would source it annealed and do stock removal and expect it to eat a ton of grinding belts. Do you have a copy of the ASM volume on Heat Treating? I'm working from an 8th edition copy so only about 700 pages... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Alchemist Posted June 1, 2017 Author Share Posted June 1, 2017 No, I don't have the book. I will look into getting one. I had a feeling about this steel. Does t15 steel have a low magnetic attraction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 as compared to ? I don't think it would as it's not in the austenite phase at room temp. (why steel loses it's magnetism at the critical temp, note however that T15 requires high temp solutionizing and so is not ready to harden until that has taken place too.) I don't know what percentage of retained austenite you could get at room temp by heat treat though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 My thoughts are that if it's from a metal cutting lathe it's probably already properly hardened. If the pieces are anywhere near the thickness and shape you'd want for a knife blade then I would try stock removal and just be careful not to let it get too hot when grinding - although with that steel you could probably get it fairly hot before it would be much of a problem.. If you want to send me a piece I'm willing to dedicate a few ceramic grinding belts to give it a shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 Properly hardened for a metal cutting lathe does not necessarily mean properly hardened for a knife blade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzzkill Posted June 1, 2017 Share Posted June 1, 2017 I would think that if anything it would be harder, but I've been wrong before. I haven't looked up the tempering for that steel, but I was guessing it would be easier to take a little hardness out of it than the rest of the heat treatment regimen you listed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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