A-2 Heat Treating Revisited

Whichever you prefer. If you examine the isothermal transformation diagram, we've got something like 7 minutes to get the steel below Ms! In other words, it'll take more than we can muster to keep the stuff from not hardening on us!

I've been leaving my air quenching steels in their foil when I plate quench, but I'll admit that I have a couple shift in the package and the fold got in the way and screwed up my blade tip...
 
cotdt said:
What is plate quenching?
Click to expand...


Instead of quenching in an oil or water, you place the blade between two pieces of heat sink (in my case -and I suspect for most everyone else- that happens to be two big pieces of aluminum plate). The plates draw the heat out of the steel, and voila! you've quenched the blade. My plates are 1" x 8" x 18", and the process is extremely involved, and very difficult:

1- Heat blade (in heat treating foil packet) to recommended austenitization temp.
2- Grab foil packet (with blade in it) with tongs.
3- Put "side down" on bottom plate (usually on floor of shop).
4- Put top plate on blade, making a 'blade sandwich'.
5- Step on top plate to make good contact between plates and blade.
6- Count to 20 (or 50, or say the alphabet a few times out loud, or sing the name game song for three names, maybe recite a few lines from Monty Python's Holy Grail - you get the idea).

Take out of foil packet, and start your first tempering cycle.
 
Matthew Gregory said:
Instead of quenching in an oil or water, you place the blade between two pieces of heat sink (in my case -and I suspect for most everyone else- that happens to be two big pieces of aluminum plate). The plates draw the heat out of the steel, and voila! you've quenched the blade. My plates are 1" x 8" x 18", and the process is extremely involved, and very difficult:

1- Heat blade (in heat treating foil packet) to recommended austenitization temp.
2- Grab foil packet (with blade in it) with tongs.
3- Put "side down" on bottom plate (usually on floor of shop).
4- Put top plate on blade, making a 'blade sandwich'.
5- Step on top plate to make good contact between plates and blade.
6- Count to 20 (or 50, or say the alphabet a few times out loud, or sing the name game song for three names, maybe recite a few lines from Monty Python's Holy Grail - you get the idea).

Take out of foil packet, and start your first tempering cycle.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this trick should be useful. Seems really quick as well, would it cause cracking for thinner blades?
 
cotdt said:
Thanks, this trick should be useful. Seems really quick as well, would it cause cracking for thinner blades?
Click to expand...

No. But what you could end up with is a pretty severe WARP depending on how you ground out the blade - evenly or not. Stress relieved it or not, etc etc

make sure your folds/crimps are not thicker than the actual blade itself, otherwise that will cause issues as there won't be total contact.
 
Leu Custom said:
No. But what you could end up with is a pretty severe WARP depending on how you ground out the blade - evenly or not. Stress relieved it or not, etc etc

make sure your folds/crimps are not thicker than the actual blade itself, otherwise that will cause issues as there won't be total contact.
Click to expand...

Warping? But it'll be in between two aluminum plates to keep the blade flat, no? :confused::confused::confused:
 
cotdt said:
Warping? But it'll be in between two aluminum plates to keep the blade flat, no? :confused::confused::confused:
Click to expand...

Imagine you put a knife into a foil packet which the walls are .002 thick of the foil packet. Then you fold the edge over 3 times and then you fold it over on the top of the packet too. in that corner, you have a crimp twice as thick as the rest of the foil packet which could prevent the entire blade contacting plates while in the foil packet.

If the blade is thick like 3/16" or 1/4" then this should not be a problem, but 1/16" thickness most likely will have an issue. you could always cut the blade out of the packet and then quench if plate quenching is so desired !
 
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