Some great heat treating info

[Gossman Knives]

I did a search on A2 steel and found this great info. I thought I'd share.
http://www.toolsofthetrade.net/articles/showarticle.asp?articleID=1577&position=o&type=article
http://www.crucibleservice.com/eselector/general/generalpart2.html
Scott

 

[Bailey Knives]

Makes me want to buy some A2 and give it a go.

 

[Gossman Knives]

Makes me want to buy some A2 and give it a go.

You got that right. I've got some A2, just haven't had time to do anything with it yet. With the furance I've got, I should have no problem with A2. Just need to experiment and really, that's the fun part anyway.
Scott

 

[Steve Hayden]

I've found that for the tool steels, Uddeholm's data sheets are the most detailed.

Go to:
http://www.bucorp.com/coldworksteels/aza_bohler_item.asp?iItem_Id=39
Then click on the A2 data sheet.

They do reccommend oil quench for the simpler geometries-what is much simpler than a knife blade.

I like oil quenching it because it cuts down on the carburization you get while air quenching. I have been using it for years in Bowies and other large chopper type blades and I also like it for kitchen knives. The knife I sent to Afghanistan was an A2 blade bowie.

For kitchen knives, I often use 1/16" A2 and have found for this thin stuff, air quench is better because they tend to warp in oil.

One of the things to note about A2 is that it peaks in toughness at around HRC 60-61.

 

[Gossman Knives]

Thanks for the link Steve. Great info.
Scott

 

[mete]

Shgeo, "cuts down on the carburization ..while air quenching" . First you mean DEcarburization. Decarburization only occurs above the critical temperature so no decarburization to speak of occurs during air or oil quench.