Heat treat AEB-L for spring

M

mtpkwp

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Jul 5, 2010
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1
Can anyone provide heat treat experience when using AEB-L for a spring application (lock back or slip joint spring).

My testing so far shows decent results with: Austenitize at 1900F. Soak for 15 mins. Plate quench. Double temper at 1000F. Results: Hardness 55-56Rc. Pretty tough. I'm guessing my oven is a little hotter than what it shows, so my temps might not match yours exactly... but should be in the ball park.

... Just wondering if there's a better recipe than this. For example, would I gain any toughness if I added a pre-quench, or cryo step? Maybe temper lower at 650F-750F?

Aiming for best possible spring I can get from AEB-L. I'll probably test any recommendation from the forum against my current recipe, but don't have enough time right now to test all the combinations myself. :)

Thanks in advance for help!
 
I heat treat with the blades, and do 2-2hour draws at 1145 degrees. Been getting a pretty consistent
47 Rc. Just read through your post again,-- Man 55-56 seems awful high for a
spring. I haven't had any luck with any springs much over 50 Rc.
Ken.
 
Last edited:
Ken's got it right, 55 Rc is a tad high for a backspring. I also use the 1150 range to temper for around 45 to 46 Rc for slipjoint backsprings.
 
Interesting to see the high temper temps for AEBL. In my experience, 2 x 2 Hrs @ 1050 F gets 46-48 (my target for slipjoint backsprings) with a starting hardness of 64-65 out of quench. I do a pre-quench and Aust @ 1975

S35VN was more in the 1140 range for the same result.

Barret
 
Ken H> said:
Ken's got it right, 55 Rc is a tad high for a backspring. I also use the 1150 range to temper for around 45 to 46 Rc for slipjoint backsprings.
Click to expand...
Is there a tempering chart you have that shows this range of tempering temperatures?
or did you reach this range based on your own testing?
I'm not seeing any chart that goes below 55 Rc
 
No chart I've seen. I asked the "what temp to use" question on a forum and somebody said 1050 to 1100F range. By testing I came up with the 1150F for my oven.
 
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