3V Tempers

colu41

colu41

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Dec 24, 2014
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About to HT my first small batch of 3v blades this weekend. Now in the past, (using 1084), data sheets mention 2 hour tempers. I was told by numerous people that 1 hour each is fine. Data sheets for 3v recommend (3) 2 hour tempers. Is this a must for the the make up of this steel?
 
I austinize at 1970F,cryo then 3 temper at 425F for 2 hours each. Rc60
 
SBuzek said:
I austinize at 1970F,cryo then 3 temper at 425F for 2 hours each. Rc60
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Ok. From a few places I put together: Equalize at 1500F for 5 minutes, 1975F for 45 minutes, and (3) 2 hour tempers at 400.
 
Cryo precipitates eta carbides .Therefore one , perhaps two tempers will be enough.Cryo will certainly transform about all the austenite possible ! A 400 F temper is all that should be used rather than 900 F.
 
mete said:
Cryo precipitates eta carbides .Therefore one , perhaps two tempers will be enough.Cryo will certainly transform about all the austenite possible ! A 400 F temper is all that should be used rather than 900 F.
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Thanks Mete. HT & Cryo along with 3 (2) tempers sounded like a very boring day waiting around lol
 
Roman Landes talks about quenching in water after the tempering (not austeninzing!!!) cycles. IIRC, he says that it can take care of some potential embrittlement problems.
colu41 said:
Are you talking about after hardening or tempering? I would think a quick dunk in water to cool it off after a temper would be fine.
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im jsut pushing the steel as much as i can and it tests out RC to 61-62 for me in house
i have since switched to PD1 that has a hair more carbon and is easy to make 62-63RC with the same setup with the same toughness (least in my testing) my camp knife started at 63.5 at 400 temper and i had to bump up to 450f to get it down to 63 and its been fantastic there
edit to add if i was not doing LN crcyo i woudl have a different HT schedule
 
Water quenching to rapidly cool the blade after each temper (and any cycling event that ends below 900F) is a better policy metallurgically. The difference to the blade may be very small, but at a minimum it saves time.
 
Stacy, I have heard tell that a number of steels have an "embrittlement zone" between say 550 and 850F. If that is so, I would think that getting a high temp tempered blade though that "zone" as quickly as possible could have particular benefit like Landes describes.
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Water quenching to rapidly cool the blade after each temper (and any cycling event that ends below 900F) is a better policy metallurgically. The difference to the blade may be very small, but at a minimum it saves time.
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Temper embrittlement isn't normally a problem with steels that have a lower and upper temper range. You don't want to stay in the embrittlement range for long periods of time, but simply passing through it in heating or cooling should not be a concern.

To be honest, I don't consider temper embrittlement an issue with blade steels and knifemaking. It is more a factor for industrial parts like springs and such.
 
I'm late to this thread. Is CPM 3V that much different from regular 3V? I do stock removal and have been roughly following the data sheet. Using CPM 3V, I've equalized at 1550 degrees, hold for 30 minutes at 1970 degrees, plate quench, then cryo (dry ice) overnight. Then three two hour tempers at 1000 degrees. Shooting for Rc 50-60, but no Rockwell tester.

Would I get the same or better result with three 400 degree tempers? If so, I'd like to try it. Thanks in advance.

Phil705
 
Phil705 said:
I'm late to this thread. Is CPM 3V that much different from regular 3V? I do stock removal and have been roughly following the data sheet. Using CPM 3V, I've equalized at 1550 degrees, hold for 30 minutes at 1970 degrees, plate quench, then cryo (dry ice) overnight. Then three two hour tempers at 1000 degrees. Shooting for Rc 50-60, but no Rockwell tester.

Would I get the same or better result with three 400 degree tempers? If so, I'd like to try it. Thanks in advance.

Phil705
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I believe the 400 degree temper increases the edge toughness as long as you do it with crying to minimize retained austentite. Did you mean to type 50-60? That's kind of a big spread...
 
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Phil705 said:
I'm late to this thread. Is CPM 3V that much different from regular 3V? I do stock removal and have been roughly following the data sheet. Using CPM 3V, I've equalized at 1550 degrees, hold for 30 minutes at 1970 degrees, plate quench, then cryo (dry ice) overnight. Then three two hour tempers at 1000 degrees. Shooting for Rc 50-60, but no Rockwell tester.

Would I get the same or better result with three 400 degree tempers? If so, I'd like to try it. Thanks in advance.

Phil705
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3V and CPM3V are the same steel. There are no cast version of 3V only Crucible Particle Metallurgy(CPM) version.
 
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