anneal before forging?

rocketmann

rocketmann

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Dec 24, 2005
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I've been fighting with the search function to no availl..So I have to ask a question that has probably been answered many times. Should you anneal steel before forging? I am mostly talking about O1 drill rod and old hay rake tines..But it could also apply to john deer rock shafts (5160) and leaf springs (5160?) thanks for any help..:D
 
No need to anneal before forging. By heating it in the forge, you are softening the steel enough to manipulate/deform it with your hammer. Normalization and annealing should be done after forging,and before grinding. Hope that helps some. -Matt-
 
rocketmann said:
I've been fighting with the search function to no availl..
Click to expand...
For about a year I could never get my text to appear in the SEARCH box.

Then last night my wife added the new NETSCAPE.7 to our computer that she downloaded free off their site.

man,,,,MAN does my SEARCH work GREAT now!
 
the only reason I could think you need to anneal 5160 before you forge it would be if you need to drill a hole in it first or something like that.
 
I have had trouble with the search function lately also...at home and at work. I guess I'll have to take the painless route and ask the old fashioned way! :D
 
01 is not the best steel if you are just starting out in forging. It can crack very easy and needs to be annealed afterwards. It also is challenging to get a good anneal just by letting it cool in vermiculite or ash. After three years of forging I still do not use it because of the potential problems. There are enough steps in bladesmithing that I do not need to throw any wild cards into the mix.

I lost count how many blades I screwed up starting out with 01. 5160,1080,1084 and 1070 are great forging steels and I still like using them because of thier forgiving nature. I have never screwed up HTing them either and always came away with a good functioning edge each time.

1084 has been my pet steel this last year and the entire time has been devoted to learning everything about it. Three years ago I spent an entire year playing with 5160 and learning all aspets of how it forges, anneals, files, grinds, HT's, tempers and takes an edge.
 
On production steels there should be no reason to anneal prior to forging. With "recycled" materials like rake tines, coil springs, leaf springs, etc. cycling through a couple of normalizing and annealing series may help prevent any "memory" problems. Not a big issue, but can happen.
Rick
 
B Finnigan said:
01 is not the best steel if you are just starting out in forging. It can crack very easy and needs to be annealed afterwards. It also is challenging to get a good anneal just by letting it cool in vermiculite or ash. After three years of forging I still do not use it because of the potential problems. There are enough steps in bladesmithing that I do not need to throw any wild cards into the mix.
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean about O1.
Some years back before I was searching for the ultimate damascus mix I was making my damascus from O1 and mild steel.
It was a big stack and after I welded it I was starting to draw out the bar for foling when I still folded the stuff.
It started to look like cottage cheese and crumble.
And you're dead on with annealing, this stuff will air harden and the only way I could get a good anneal with it was to shut down the gas forge then let the blade soak in it until I could pick it up.
I don't use O1 at all now.
 
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