1095 grain pics

[muleskinner222]

My first DIY HT. I used the Evenheat HT recipe: Heat to 1450°F, soak time of 15 to 20 minutes, quenched in McMaster quench oil, then 375 for 2 hours.

Then I put it in a press and started bending. When it finally broke this is what I was left with. Can anyone tell me about it? Good? Bad? Who cares? I can take some better photos on Tuesday if needed. 1/8 thick and about 1'' wide. Steel is flat bar from Admiral.

Thanks in advance

 

[Justin King]

It looks pretty good, the grain could perhaps be a hair finer but it's kind of hard to judge, it could just be the magnification. The looks of the fracture indicates some stretching before it seperated, so if the hardness is adequate I would say it looks fine. Did you normalize before the hardening cycle, or harden as it came from the mill?

 

[JasonSCarter]

The unmagnified pic of the grain looks fine to me!

Jason

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

The pict on the bottom is a great picture.

I would say it looks horrible... if it weren't magnified on my monitor 20X... Yeah, I think that looks just fine. I'm no expert (by a mile), but if forced to guess, I would say that is relatively fine grain, putting it in the neighborhood of a fracture grain size of perhaps 8-12. That steel is capable of a little better or far worse.

I notice the steel has a few inclusions. It is my understanding that is par for the course for 1095.