Paul. Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 have just finished a diagonal peen hammer and would like any tips for hardening. So far I have drawn a temper on face and peen to a light purple But feel this face could be harder. Will it 'case' harden with prolonged use? would appreciate any comments thanks paul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Hale Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 What kind of steel is it and have you hardened it yet? Tempering is takeing away a bit of the hardness that was acheived by hardening so it will not be brittle. Different kinds of steel need different kinds of heat treat,, Could help more if I knew more about your material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philip in china Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Mail me at [email protected] and I will send you a doc on the subject Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 21, 2008 Share Posted August 21, 2008 Case hardening, immersing it in high carbon materials at high temps for a length of time---sounds like you mean work hardening it and no it won't do a good job of hardening the face (either one). With out knowing the details of what alloy and how the heat treat was done it's hard to guess what would help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul. Posted August 22, 2008 Author Share Posted August 22, 2008 yes, sorry i did mean work harening! but like you say, ThomasPowers, this is the wrong road. The hammer is actually an old lump hammer which i have reshaped, so difficult to give exact details of steel. Before tempering, the whole head was heated to a cherry red then after quenching face and peen I Polished a spot on face and peen edge and at desired colour quenched whole head . Am i being impatient ? should repeat this process until i get desired result ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle Brooks Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I honestly like a soft hammer, but hey thats just me! Rather resurface a hammer than an anvil. I wouldn't worry all to much about it. Use it and if you think it needs to be harder/softer, then treat it as so. Good Luck! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markh Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 I like it. It's a nice hammer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted August 22, 2008 Share Posted August 22, 2008 So reheat/quench and draw to a dark straw this time and see if that's a good hardness for your hammer. Standard procedure for unknow "junkyard" steels; though we often suggest you try it hard first as you can then re-temper softer without doing the whole redhot heat/quench. Better soft and forgiving that a load of poorly bound shrapnel though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul. Posted August 25, 2008 Author Share Posted August 25, 2008 yeah thanks for the input everyone. Starting to think maybe jumping the gun a bit! after using hammer a bit am getting used to the 'softness' and actually quite like it. Think i might make a few more and experiment a bit with my hardening technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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