1018 HT for dies

[insanity]

I'm going to be heat treating a set of dies for an english wheel. As you may have guessed already they will be 1018. Seeing as this is not o-1 or 440c I have no idea how to heat treat it. Actually I don't even know what a good target hardness would be for this application. Any suggestions on either of these questions would be appreciated. Thanks

WS

 

[Mike Hull]

1018 is mild steel. I don't believe it is heat treatable, at least to any real useable hardness.
I would think 4140, 4340, or some other heat treatable higher carbon steels would be more appropriate.

 

[NickWheeler]

Yea, I agree with Mike

There are other steels that make great dies as well. The dies in my press are mild steel (structural i.e. 1018, A-36...) But they're not hard. Mild steel is basically a glob of everything with very poor analysis, and you won't be able to get a targeted hardness (IMVHO).

Nick

 

[Epsilon]

If you stay with 1018, like most mild steel, you simply use it normalized. Also, cold working can bump up the strength some. You may try a water quench (agitate a lot) instead, if your results are less than fantastic. Then temper. If you experiment between somewhere in the 1600-1670°F, equalize, cool, you should be okay. Doubt you'll get out of the thirties range in HRC.

-Jason