Powder Coating A Knife.... And Protect The Tempering????

Z

Zombie_Steel

Joined
Jun 14, 2013
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21
ok, so my question is simple. i just hope it has a simple answer. i am looking to powder coat some knives. that in itself isn't the issue. my question is with the tempering.

i powder coat my lead heads for fishing at 320 degrees. but if i get the blade that hot won't it wreck the tempering? and how do you get around that?
 
Why don't you hold off on the last temper cycle and kill two birds with one stone. Do your powder coating heat at the same temp you temper the blade. More knowledgeable folks will be along shortly.
 
It depends on the steel. Check steel characteristic to know whether it will get damaged.
Most steels are tempered at higher temperature (as long as you are talking about Fahrenheit) so it should not cause damage. But "your mileage may wary".
 
If the oven temp for baking is less than the tempering temp then it doesn't do anything. If it is the same temp then you are getting a double temper which is not a bad thing.

The other thing to think about is that tempering is is a process involving time and temperature. A short time (minutes) at even higher temps wouldn't do anything.

Dan
 
ok. so my confusion is this.... if i follow what you guys are saying, and i do this, say temper and coat at the same time, it will air cool. but i need to quench the steel rapidly to harden it. but if i have the coating on it won't that act more like clay and keep the metal softer like using a refactory clay when tempering? i understand this is very thin coat compaired to that. also i would be curious how it would react to being cooled rapidly?

man so much to learn!
 
I can think of no steel that you will adversely effect by your powder coating process if you do not exceed 320 degrees.
Quenching will effect nothing at that temp, either.
 
It seem that you are confusing tempering and hardening. Are you making the knives or just powder coating some knives?
 
Hardening comes first (heat then quench when at appropriate temperature.) Tempering comes after the heat treat, and is used to soften the lade a bit to make it less brittle.
 
Never "skip" a tempering cycle. HT is not the place to taking shortcuts.

320F will not harm a hardened, tempered blade. Nor will quenching it from that temp.
 
wow. thanks guys. i have learned alot from this thread. thanks for the info. but now i have another question.... but i will make it another thread. although it is along the same lines.
 
Zombie_Steel said:
ok, so my question is simple. i just hope it has a simple answer. i am looking to powder coat some knives. that in itself isn't the issue. my question is with the tempering.

i powder coat my lead heads for fishing at 320 degrees. but if i get the blade that hot won't it wreck the tempering? and how do you get around that?
Click to expand...

Zombie_Steel said:
ok. so my confusion is this.... if i follow what you guys are saying, and i do this, say temper and coat at the same time, it will air cool. but i need to quench the steel rapidly to harden it. but if i have the coating on it won't that act more like clay and keep the metal softer like using a refactory clay when tempering? i understand this is very thin coat compaired to that. also i would be curious how it would react to being cooled rapidly?

man so much to learn!
Click to expand...

I think you misunderstand some basic HT principles

have a look at this

Especially the HT video

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1074288-Shop-Setup-101?p=12258065#post12258065


You should have no trouble painting and curing a heat treated blade.
320*F is low enough shouldn't affect the heat treatment of any blade.
 
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