Cryogencie treatment

[MikeC]

There is new cryogenic treatment facility that has opened here in my City and is running heavy advertisement at all of the local outdoor and sporting goods store making some pretty outrageous claims about cryogenic treatment for your knives, tools, guns, fishing reels, etc.

I know a bunch of manufacturers and makers have experimented with cryo treating knives is their anything to this and these claims of being a wonder treatment for metal items or is this mostly hype?

Thanks in advance

Mike C.

 

[tradja]

What benefit would aftermarket cryo treatment provide for, say, a knife?

 

[spidyman]

the process is legit and is commonly used in high-stress equipment (racing parts, and HD-machine parts) and in many other industires. The process physically alters the grain structure and allows the metal to become harder, more resistant to fatigue, relieves stress, and in some cases can actually promote finer detail machining.

In an application for a knife, this would translate to a tougher blade, better edge retention, and the ability to take a keener edge.

its not a wonder treatment but it does have significat advantages when done properly.

 

[Jason B.]

Good luck on getting any real facts, I had a thread like this before.

Done right to the right steel and at low enough temperatures its effects can be Very worth it , but done wrong and you will be left with a nice paper weight.

 

[mete]

We've had many discussions about this in the Knifemaker's section. Yes there's lots of hype.For a knife it has to be part of the heat treatment not an add on.

 

[misque]

We've had many discussions about this in the Knifemaker's section. Yes there's lots of hype.For a knife it has to be part of the heat treatment not an add on.

^^What he said! Spot on.^^

 

[Blop]

We've had many discussions about this in the Knifemaker's section. Yes there's lots of hype.For a knife it has to be part of the heat treatment not an add on.

That is, what i was told before.

Cryo after the hardening and tempering process is just as you have brought the knife to the north- or southpole.

 

[warbird436]

Yes there is a lot of hype. There are a lot of guys out there who have a styrofoam beer cooler and some liquid nitrogen who think they can cryo treat things. There are a lot of opinions out there too. Opinions without facts are the just silly musings of idle minds.

First of all, READ THE RESEARCH. You can find a lot of it at http://www.cryogenictreatmentdatabase.org/ , which is the Cryogenic Society of America's data base on cryogenic processing research.

Cryo processing does not have to be done as part of heat treating. We treat knives for industry very successfully months after they are produced and heat treated. We do this on a commercial basis. It is successful.

Many of the things happening in cryo treatments are not related to the heat treating. That is why the process works on things like aluminum, titanium, magnesium and unheat treated cast iron. The fact that it works on brake rotors is utter proof of this. Brake rotors are pearlitic cast iron that has not been heat treated.

 

[misque]

Yes there is a lot of hype. There are a lot of guys out there who have a styrofoam beer cooler and some liquid nitrogen who think they can cryo treat things. There are a lot of opinions out there too. Opinions without facts are the just silly musings of idle minds.

First of all, READ THE RESEARCH. You can find a lot of it at http://www.cryogenictreatmentdatabase.org/ , which is the Cryogenic Society of America's data base on cryogenic processing research.

Cryo processing does not have to be done as part of heat treating. We treat knives for industry very successfully months after they are produced and heat treated. We do this on a commercial basis. It is successful.

Many of the things happening in cryo treatments are not related to the heat treating. That is why the process works on things like aluminum, titanium, magnesium and unheat treated cast iron. The fact that it works on brake rotors is utter proof of this. Brake rotors are pearlitic cast iron that has not been heat treated.

I really appreciate you posting this link.:thumbup:
Learned a WHOLE lot of info there, and it is bookmarked for future use.

 

[Jason B.]

I've believed in it for a long time but have yet to send a blade out. There is a place in ohio called cryoplus that has good prices and fast turnaround plus a very good record. It also seems to be a popular process for engines and transmission parts.

When the word cryo comes up everyone seems to think -125 but with companies that do these cryo treatments its -300. I think that's the part that most miss.

 

[DMS1]

if you cryogenically treated a knife, and then your wife ran it in the dishwasher, would the heat negate the treatment?

 

[misque]

if you cryogenically treated a knife, and then your wife ran it in the dishwasher, would the heat negate the treatment?

Short answer, no.
It takes a higher temp than the average dishwasher can produce to begin affecting a given knife's temper.