stainless steel heat treat and tempering

M

MR2

Joined
Apr 13, 2000
Messages
1
I'M ATTEMPTING A FIXED BLADE OUT OF 410 STAINLESS STEEL. I WAS WONDERING ABOUT TREATMENT TEMPS. AND TEMPERING TEMPS. AND THE BEST THING TO TEMPER THE BLADE IN?
 
I would recommend sending it to a commercial heat treater such as...

Paul Bos
1900 Weld Blvd.
El Cajon, CA 92020

 
there is no 410 stainless that has enough carbon in it to harden but its good grinding practice

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All that is not Given Is Lost
 
MR2; first of all, hit your cap lock button. Typing in all caps is considered 'shouting,' and is considered a breech of etiquette.

Now, to find out about stainless steels, and the difference between austinitic and martensitic stainless, go here:
http://www.ssina.com/student.html

There you will find out that 410 is a martensitic stainless, and therefore should be heat treatable. While I doubt that this is likely, considering the knowledge of my fellow posters, here is how to find out. Go to Principal Metals:
http://www.principalmetals.com/

Click on Property data --> stainless steels--> 410. You will find the information that 410 is a martensitic stainless which can indeed be heat treated with good results. Hmmm. but our posters said the opposite.

Obviously, there are conflicting data. Go to the more complicated metal characteristics site:
http://www.matweb.com/searchindex.htm

Enter '410 stainless steel' in the box at the left. Here you will find your answer. 410 has a max of 0.15 C, which is very low. Further, while heat treatment does indeed raise the Rockwell C (a measure of hardness) of 410, the maximum obtainable is about 45 Rc. This is very soft for knife use, and suggests that there are better alloys, such as the 440 series, for you to use.

Hope this helps, Walt
 
Disclaimer on my previous post. I was going off of memory, and that has been more dependable. In this case, I will happily defer to the man doing actual research and quoting his sources.
.15 C is less than mild steel, but I neglected to take into account that other elements can determine hardenability, although C is, in my opinion, among the better elements for hardening.
My apologies for speaking too quickly on a steel that I haven't worked with, and didn't have appropriate research done to comment on.
Walt, my compliments on your research. Thanks for taking the time to get the right info.

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Oz

Now, what other news did I have? Oh yes, IT'S A GIRL!!!
See her and my latest blades @
http://www.freespeech.org/oz/

[This message has been edited by Osbourn (edited 04-18-2000).]
 
Oz; APOLOGIES?? My goodness, the sensitivity training classes you took with your Lamaze classes have really worked, haven't they?
wink.gif


The fact of the matter is, you guys have forgotten more about steel than I will ever know! I offered my sources in case anyone wanted to do the research themselves. True, 410 is technically hardenable, but some of the Rc numbers after hardening were in the mid 30's, and some were on the Rockwell B scale!

Thus, while I was technically correct, you were correct in real world utility terms. Which is what counts. No apology necessary.

Walt
 
Series "400" is martensitic, which means at room temperature in alpha-iron-configuration.
Hardenability depends (mostly) on carbon content. There are martensitic steels without significant amounts of carbon, which cannot be hardened "the usual way" => see maraging steel, e.g.
Series "300" is austenitic, which means always in gamma-iron-configuration. Despite any carbon content, it cannot be hardened "the usual way", but may be hardened by cold working, e.g.
A large Ni, Mn, Co content makes steel austenitic.
smile.gif


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D.T. UTZINGER
 
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