Heat treat problem

C

Casey Benson

Joined
May 18, 2020
Messages
4
I'm using 01 and old files to make knives. Digital oven, 1530 20 min soak. The quenching in parks AAA. Does not skate file. :/ Any opinions?
 
Another possibility is that old the old files may be 1095 or W1/W2 and need a faster quench than AAA.
 
You only need to get the carbon into solution on those steels. 1475 is a good target. Too hot and the carbon starts getting tied up with the alloying and the hardness starts to go down.

Also, 95% of all issues with a file skating are caused by the layer of soft decarb left by the steel being exposed to high heat and long soaks. Decarb is a layer of soft steel that has had the carbon removed by binding with the oxygen in the air and forming CO2. This leaves a thin skin of what is basically soft iron on the blade. The longer the hot steel is exposed to the air and the higher the temperature, the thicker the layer of decarb. I needs to be ground/sanded off in finishing. If testing with a file it may bite right into the edge. A few more strokes and suddenly it hits hard steel and skates like it was on glass. If you take a blade that seems too soft after HT to the grinder and hit the edge at first you get nothing ... then suddenly you get a shower of high carbon/hard steel sparks as the belt passes through the soft decarb. Lowering the temperature and keeping the soak time to a sufficient but not excessive length reduce decarb. For the steels you listed 10 minutes is enough.
 
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