- Joined
- Jan 1, 2011
- Messages
- 1,798
I started using 52100 for the first time after hearing so many good things about it. I ground out 5 of my best grind jobs to date. The other day I followed the directions of others for refining grain(as Follows)
1650-10 minute soak, cool to black
1550-10 minute soak, cool to black
1450-10 minute soak, cool to black
I then ground off the decarb.
Today I went to harden. Blades in the oven, ramp to 1475- 10 minute soak. Quench in warm (120) Canola. When I opened the oven, I thought the blades looked cool, but I've been doing stainless lately so I just chalked it up to be the higher temps of stainless. I ground the tangs clean with 120 grit belt, and did an Rc. Rc ranged from low 30's to mid 40's. The smaller blades had the higher Rc's. I checked the Rockwell with test blocks and came up fine. I screwed up something.
I talked with a friend, he recommended bumping up to 1525. I did another HT. 1525-10 Minute Soak quench in the same Canola. Same clean-up after quench. This time Rc of mid 40's to low 50's. Again the smaller ones were higher.
I figure third times the charm. The blades go back in the oven, this time 1475-10 minute soak, then 1550-15 minute soak. Quenched (should mention time out of oven into oil is 1-2 seconds), and cleaned up. This time I just grabbed a file and checked the blades, the file bit into tang with out an issue.
What am I doing wrong, or what is wrong? At first I was thinking my Rockwell was off, but the file test ruined that theory. My next thought is that the oven is off. It's less than 1 year old, and have had no HT issues in the past.
Am I missing some major step! Did I accidentally get 1018 instead of 52100? I'm just lost!
Any help is appreciated.
1650-10 minute soak, cool to black
1550-10 minute soak, cool to black
1450-10 minute soak, cool to black
I then ground off the decarb.
Today I went to harden. Blades in the oven, ramp to 1475- 10 minute soak. Quench in warm (120) Canola. When I opened the oven, I thought the blades looked cool, but I've been doing stainless lately so I just chalked it up to be the higher temps of stainless. I ground the tangs clean with 120 grit belt, and did an Rc. Rc ranged from low 30's to mid 40's. The smaller blades had the higher Rc's. I checked the Rockwell with test blocks and came up fine. I screwed up something.
I talked with a friend, he recommended bumping up to 1525. I did another HT. 1525-10 Minute Soak quench in the same Canola. Same clean-up after quench. This time Rc of mid 40's to low 50's. Again the smaller ones were higher.
I figure third times the charm. The blades go back in the oven, this time 1475-10 minute soak, then 1550-15 minute soak. Quenched (should mention time out of oven into oil is 1-2 seconds), and cleaned up. This time I just grabbed a file and checked the blades, the file bit into tang with out an issue.
What am I doing wrong, or what is wrong? At first I was thinking my Rockwell was off, but the file test ruined that theory. My next thought is that the oven is off. It's less than 1 year old, and have had no HT issues in the past.
Am I missing some major step! Did I accidentally get 1018 instead of 52100? I'm just lost!
Any help is appreciated.
