CPM-3V quench to temper

N

night man

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Aug 27, 2010
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I will be attempting heat treating some cpm-3v. I have one Paragon oven. I will not be using cryo or dry ice for the first knife. My plan is to heat to 1500 hold for 5 minutes. Then ramp to 1950 and hold for 30 minutes. Plate quench. Then temper 2x at 950 F for 2 hours each. For a hardness of around 60 HRC.

My problem is, I only have 1 paragon oven and it will take a while to cool from 1950 to 950 for the temper. Maybe an hour or more. Will this be a problem? Should I do a snap temper in a cooking oven at around 400 degrees while I am waiting on my paragon to cool down?

Also where is a good place to get foil? USA knife maker has been out for a while.

Thanks.
 
A snap temper of 350-400 will do fine. I would strongly urge some type of sub zero treatment with 3v.

Stan
 
I plan to eventually do subzero treatment but for now I want to test a few without it. Thanks.
 
1950F is a good austenitization temp for 3V knives.
950F is too low for 3V tempering. The temper range is from 1000F to 1050F.
1000F will give you a nice hard blade ( about Rc59) and a good toughness if the austenitization was 1950F.
You need to temper 3V three time to convert all the RA. Opinions vary on doing a sub-zero in dry ice, but I think it may help gain a tad. It won't hurt, for sure. With or without, it is a tough steel.
 
bladsmth said:
1950F is a good austenitization temp for 3V knives.
950F is too low for 3V tempering. The temper range is from 1000F to 1050F.
1000F will give you a nice hard blade ( about Rc59) and a good toughness if the austenitization was 1950F.
You need to temper 3V three time to convert all the RA. Opinions vary on doing a sub-zero in dry ice, but I think it may help gain a tad. It won't hurt, for sure. With or without, it is a tough steel.
Click to expand...

With only having 1 oven capable of doing 1000 + temps how long do I have to get it in the 1000 F temper. I have to give my oven time to cool down from 1950 to 1000 F. That is why i was wondering if a snap temper at 400 F while waiting for my oven to cool would help or will the blade just sitting at room temp for an hour + be fine.

Thanks.
 
For 3V I would just wait for the oven to cool down if you are not doing a sub-zero treatment.

Austenitize at 1950F for 20-30 minutes.
Quench between aluminum plates.
Leave in quench plates as oven drops to 1000F.
Temper three times for 2 hours.
 
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