quenching ats34

nate1714

nate1714

Joined
Apr 16, 2005
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ok i decided after alot of reading and looking over past post that i will be working with ats34......i understand how to do everythign with it but the quenching......i have read about oil quenching for it and air.....i will assume air is just leaving it to sit till it reaches room temp and oil i have read apone how to do it but which to do for ats34...any tips........
 
You will be wanting to air quench your high alloy steels, which ATS-34 is. I recommend quenching the steel in air flow. I use a make shift vertical wind tunnel (a fan with a gang of coffee cans afixed to the fan). Some take the time to remove the steel from its protective foil packet before quenching. If you prefer to do that you may oil quench the blade. I do not remove from the packet and therefore go immediately to the air quench. Smaller blades I plate quench and when I aquire a large enough set of plates I will plate quench larger blades. It is not advisable to oil quench steel in the packet.

RL
 
now that i have a kiln i was thinking about using ats-34 also
but having seen heat treating info that has been conflicting im not sure
 
not that 440c can't be made well i just wanted to step up to ats34 and some of the cpm steels
i know its not just me around here that need to try things they havent done yet
 
if anyone has any info of how they made a knife useing ats34 then please tell me and the others that are reading this.......anything will be better than nothign :p :p :p
 
Sure. Foil wrap the steel. You can get your 2000 F foil wrap from use-enco.com (about $80).

ATS-34
--------

Preheat steel: 1400 F / 7 min.
Ramp as quickly as possible to austenitizing.
Austenitize: 1950 F / 18 to 20 min.
Quench
Temper or if going to cryo Snap temper then deep cryo minimum 10 hours.
(snap temper: 325 F / 1 hour)
Temper: 450 to 500 F / 2 hours (if no cryo use the lower tempering temperature)
Temper 450 F / 2 hours (if no cryo temper this time at 400 F)

Target hardness: about 59 HRc

-------------------------------

RL
 
can i heat treat my self lets say with a fire in my yard...?? any tips im a really new knife maker here...
 
rlinger said:
Sure. Foil wrap the steel. You can get your 2000 F foil wrap from use-enco.com (about $80).

ATS-34
--------

Preheat steel: 1400 F / 7 min.
Ramp as quickly as possible to austenitizing.
Austenitize: 1950 F / 18 to 20 min.
Quench
Temper or if going to cryo Snap temper then deep cryo minimum 10 hours.
(snap temper: 325 F / 1 hour)
Temper: 450 to 500 F / 2 hours (if no cryo use the lower tempering temperature)
Temper 450 F / 2 hours (if no cryo temper this time at 400 F)

Target hardness: about 59 HRc

-------------------------------

RL
Click to expand...
are you using quench plates oil or just air cool? i was thinking that i had to cryo to get 59/60 HRc
 
i am not useign anything yet i was planing on air cooling though this will be my first fixed blade......
 
I plate quench blades small enough for my plates. All other high alloy I rapid air quench.

For the above: if not cryogenically treating I might suggest tempering at 400 F and testing. You can always increase the tempering temperature if the steel is harder than desired. I recommend NOT tempering below 400 F.

RL
 
can i put it in the oven for like 15-20min at 400 then in to a fire till not magnetic...then air quench...then put in oven again at 400 for 15-20min...??
 
You did not see a 400 F preheat within the above recipie. I suggest you cut your teeth on a simple carbon steel and also buying Heat Treatment, Selection, And Application of Tool Steels by Bill Bryson. It is available from www.use-enco.com

RL
 
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