AEB-L first timer.

[jdm61]

I am making a kitchen knife for my brother who is giving it as a gift to a family friend who let my brother and his son slay some wild hogs on his 5000 acre ranch north of the lake. I ordered some AEB-L, but this will be my first time using stainless. I am thinking that I will do the "interrupted quench" in AAA type medium speed oil to get it below the nose of the curve and then clamp it in my press to keep it straight until it gets down to room temp and then it will get a dip in the dry ice mixture while the oven cools down for tempering. I don't really anticipate the clamping to do any of the quench part of the cool down process, so how long do you guys think that I need to leave the unground .110 blade in the oil to get it far enough below that 1000F mark?

 

[james terrio]

The short answer is, call Chuck Bybee and/or Brad Stallsmith.

RA seems to be an issue with AEB-L/13C26, and based on what guys like them have told me, cryo is pretty necessary to make the difference between a blade in this alloy that really holds an edge quite well, and one that's kind of so-so. I'm not sure if dry ice is enough, or if LN is required.

 

[Daniel Fairly Knives]

The short answer is, call Chuck Bybee and/or Brad Stallsmith.

RA seems to be an issue with AEB-L/13C26, and based on what guys like them have told me, cryo is pretty necessary to make the difference between a blade in this alloy that really holds an edge quite well, and one that's kind of so-so. I'm not sure if dry ice is enough, or if LN is required.

I have been doing a lot of research on AEB-L Steel and from what I gather -95 is needed... a dry ice slurry should be perfect.


I'm not sure about the quick nose... on thinner steels plates should take the heat out very quickly.


I'd have to make and test a bunch to really see...

 

[Darrin Sanders]

All the data from Uddeholm on AEB-L and Sandvik on 13C26 says that -95 is sufficient. I use them all the time. The oil isn't necessary. Here is how I do it.
1. Soak at 1950 for 15-20 minutes.
2. Plate quench until cool enough to handle with gloves.
3. Remove foil and correct warpage if necessary.
4. Water quench to room temp.
5. Dry ice/alcohol for 20 minutes.
6. Temper 2 hours.
7. Dry ice/ alcohol another 20 minutes.
8. Temper 2 hours.
Chuck Bybee and I were talking just a few days ago about this and he said that this is almost the exact method that Devin Thomas uses. The only difference being that he uses LN instead of dry ice.
As far as tempering, 350 will put you in the HRC 60-61 range. It can be tempered as low as 275. For a kitchen knife I would start with 300 which should put you in the HRC 62-63 range.
Let me know how it works out for you, I think you'll like it.