Heat treating Wolfram

Robert Erickson

Robert Erickson

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Feb 2, 2014
Messages
2,862
I have done a few knives in Wolfram and followed the HT protocol that Pop's posts on their website with good results.

Here is what is suggested:

Normalize at 1650 for 5 mins and air cool to room temperature
Heat to 1500F(815C) and hold for 5 minutes-10 minutes (66HRc as quenched)
Oil Quench (Suggested Oil is AAA)
Temper twice for two hours at 392F(200C) for 64HRc

I don't have Parks AAA but instead use McMaster Carr 11 sec oil which is a bit slower I believe. I wonder if this matters much.

I'm curious to hear from those of you who have used this steel if you use this protocol or if you've found something else to be better.

Thanks
 
Robert Erickson said:
I have done a few knives in Wolfram and followed the HT protocol that Pop's posts on their website with good results.

Here is what is suggested:

Normalize at 1650 for 5 mins and air cool to room temperature
Heat to 1500F(815C) and hold for 5 minutes-10 minutes (66HRc as quenched)
Oil Quench (Suggested Oil is AAA)
Temper twice for two hours at 392F(200C) for 64HRc

I don't have Parks AAA but instead use McMaster Carr 11 sec oil which is a bit slower I believe. I wonder if this matters much.

I'm curious to hear from those of you who have used this steel if you use this protocol or if you've found something else to be better.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Hi there, I use wolfram special in kitchen knives, outdoor knives and woodworking tools pretty often, alternating it with aogami 1 nowadays for size stock preferences, but it most definitely is almost identical and is a VERY good steel if treated right.

Personally i do normalize it at 1700f for 10min as the 2.23% tungsten favors a higher temp for that step.

I like to do a 1450f grain refinement cycle followed by a DET anneal from 1400f 30min to 1100 at 600f/h cooling rate

Quench in parks 50 at 1450-1490f depending on what you favor carbide wise, I personally do 1480 for most stuff.

Also I never tried it but I guess it can pull an unremarkable albeit present hamon (maybe quench at 1430-1450f if going for more hamon activity). It definitely is shallower hardening spec wise but it can harden well in many different quench mediums as long as you adapt the heat treat in consequence.
My uneducated guess is that the 1500f suggested temp is for a slower oil like parks aaa, whereas parks 50 i'd say go a little lower.

1480 in parks 50 when tempered thrice 30min at 350-375f yields 64 hrc reliably (closer to 65), and is nice for fine cutters, i do 425f for slightly tougher use stuff, hovers around 62hrc at that temper but to be honest it is already plenty tough around 64hrc for lighter uses like kitchen knives so the higher tempering temp is not that interesting for that knife imho.

I did a leather skiving knife that I tempered at 325f l, I didn't measure it but if I were to guess it must be about 66hrc (it was water quenched tho) and holds an edge for a very long while, that thing holds an edge better than any leather cutting tool I've tried. I'd believe except apex ultra (and maybe cruforge V) at same hardness I can't see a simple low alloyed steel holding an edge longer for most uses in my personal experience.
Let us know how it goes.
 
My protocol is pretty much the same as those above:
For stock removal blades -1700°F normalize for 10 minutes and air cool
For forged blades - Normalize and refine grain with cycles at 1700 air cool, 1500 quench, and 135 quench.
Austenitize at 1450-1475
Temper at 400

I used 1435 for a hamon, which is not high contrast, but showed as a ghost of a suguha.
 
Thanks guys. I have been tinkering with my protocol but was curious what others have been finding.
It does produce interesting auto-hamon even at the 1500 aus temp that I had been using.
It's really nice steel that I plan on using more of.
 
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