d2 home heat treating

[G_Pow]

hi i need some advice on heat treating d2 at home

 

[FTO_dude]

i am not an expert. i have not done this

to harden: heat slowly to about 1000c degrees then set aside to cool slowly in still air. When the temperature of the steel falls to 70c degrees reheat to 500c degrees then set aside as before.

to temper: heat in kitchen oven for 2 hours at 240c degrees and allow to cool int eh oven. this puts the hardness in the range of 56hrc

 

[Leu Custom]

here you go: http://pmsteel.com/pdf/ARISTOCRAT.pdf

 

[galadduin]

If you have a heat source that gives about 1020 degrees in celcius and stays there about 30 mins, why not? You need a good heat treating kiln after all...
Emre

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

That info should work.
The specs call for very slow heat-up, Pre-heating to 800C. After it is pre-heated, take up to 1000C and austenitize for 15-30 minutes. Air quench ( quench plates recommended) and cool to room temperature. Temper at 500C ( some people just temper at 200C). D2 benefits from cryo, so if doing that, snap temper at 100C for an hour after the quench and cryo at -100C, followed by a temper at 500C.

Of course the above is done in a HT oven with a foil wrapped blade.

Please fill out your profile, it helps.
Stacy

 

[galadduin]

That info should work.
The specs call for very slow heat-up, Pre-heating to 800C. After it is pre-heated, take up to 1000C and austenitize for 15-30 minutes. Air quench ( quench plates recommended) and cool to room temperature. Temper at 500C ( some people just temper at 200C). D2 benefits from cryo, so if doing that, snap temper at 100C for an hour after the quench and cryo at -100C, followed by a temper at 500C.

Of course the above is done in a HT oven with a foil wrapped blade.

Please fill out your profile, it helps.
Stacy

The high temper at about 500C reduces the corrosion resistance a bit but also reduces retained austenite. I personally prefer low temp tempers at 240-250 C...

Emre

 

[KnifeMaker.ca]

hi i need some advice on heat treating d2 at home

You need to tell us what you have "at home" to get a good answer. You cannot heat treat this steel with a torch and a bucket of water. If you have the ability to control high temperature +/- 25 degrees (not by color) for 15 to 30 minutes, yes it can be done. I guess we need more information to answer your question.

Rob!

 

[Jim Adams Customs]

Heat treating D2 without a Heat treat Oven would be almost impossible. I have local machine shop that does my heat treat to my specs. They charge me 25.00 for as many knives we can fit in the oven.

 

[G_Pow]

Thanx for the feed back, Im in the process of building an heat treat oven but living in the tropics is causing a problem with sourcing the fire bricks for it. I contacted a local heat treating place and there resopnse was "just do it yourself its not that hard"

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

When I was heat treating D2 as a machine shop, I also thought it "wasn't that hard". Once I started making knives with it, I realized the industry standard HT for it (which is utilized for things like stamp and form dies) led to poor edge stability in a blade. This is because it favors a structure high in retained austenite, lots of secondary carbides and carbon lean martensite. Tough and abrasion resistant. But a blade that takes a lousy edge and holds it forever.

A good long soak, a relatively rapid quench that goes all the way down to Mf (-100) and tempers well below the secondary hardening hump work best for a blade. This is not commonly done in industry and the difference for a D2 blade is dramatic.