A2 heat treat

At -100F, dry ice ends the conversion of austenite to martensite. The conversion happens rapidly and extra time will make no additional change. 15 minutes is actually much longer than needed.

At -320, liquid nitrogen starts the process that creates Eta carbides. This is a slow process, and takes several hours at a minimum. The actual eta carbide precipitation happens in the subsequent temper cycle. Most folks leave the blade in 6 hours to overnight. 4 hours would be the minimum.
 
That’s interesting, I didn’t know it took that long for the eta carbides. I appreciate the response. I’ll be giving this a shot Thursday. I don’t have a deware, but I buy liquid nitrogen at the welding shop, and fill up an ozark double wall container, and a thermos. It costs about 20 bucks, so I do my blades in batches so I don’t waste so much money. I’ll let the blades sit in the liquid nitrogen over night, and throw them to temper in the morning before I leave to work. Or would it hurt anything to wait till I get home to temper?
 
I would temper in the morning immediately after they warm to room temp. They could stay in the LN for a day with no bad effects, but temper should be as soon as possible after the Mf hold. After the first temper, a wait for a day won't matter.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I would temper in the morning immediately after they warm to room temp. They could stay in the LN for a day with no bad effects, but temper should be as soon as possible after the Mf hold. After the first temper, a wait for a day won't matter.
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Sweet, thanks for help Stacey!!
 
I’m not a knife maker, so I myself have nothing to add. But I really like knives in A2 Steel :-) Have you ever looked into knife maker Aaron Gough ? He’s spent a lot of time perfecting A2 for his knives. I’ve been dying to try one but wow they sell out fast.
 
duramax said:
I’m not a knife maker, so I myself have nothing to add. But I really like knives in A2 Steel :) Have you ever looked into knife maker Aaron Gough ? He’s spent a lot of time perfecting A2 for his knives. I’ve been dying to try one but wow they sell out fast.
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Actually yes, I have. I pm’d him a while back, but haven’t heard from him yet. I’m anxious to try this steel, seems really good!
 
rodriguez7 said:
Actually yes, I have. I pm’d him a while back, but haven’t heard from him yet. I’m anxious to try this steel, seems really good!
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He’s got some great videos of testing, heat treating, etc. I keep stalking his web site lol hoping his order list will open. You may wanna try his Instagram page for contact, I see he uses that a lot now.
 
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