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- Jun 27, 2016
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Thanks to HSC's help I was able to heat treat a few blanks of w2 and have them hardness tested. Heres what I did/found.
It seems to be agreed upon that at a time in the past Aldo's W2 needed a soak well above critical to harden, this may or may not still be the case.
I tested 4 pieces of Aldos current W2, batch 15092. Heat treat done with a propane forge with baffle and thermocouple. All pieces quenched in brine (60 Celcius) 3 seconds then into warm oil till cool. Immediately tempered 2 times 2 hrs each at 195 c or ~380f. All blanks hardness tested in 3 places, the results were averaged, there were no low/high outliers
Blank 1 (62.5 HRC): 1x 15-minute soak at 950 c (1742 f). followed by 1 normalization cycle at 4 reducing temperatures with no soak, air-cooled to black, 900 c (1652f), 850 c (1562f), 800 c (1472f), 750 c (1382f). Quenched at 790 c (1454f) on a rising heat no soak. took 2 minutes to reach heat.
Blank 2 (60.5 HRC): 1x 15-minute soak at 950 c (1742 f). followed by 1 normalization cycle at 4 reducing temperatures with no soak, air-cooled to black, 900 c (1652f), 850 c (1562f), 800 c (1472f), 750 c (1382f). Held at 790 (1454f) for a 5-minute soak then quenched.
Blank 3 (50.5 HRC): No thermal cycling. Steel straight as it came from Aldo. Quenched at 790 c (1454f) on a rising heat no soak. took 2 minutes to reach heat.
Blank 4 (61.5 HRC): No thermal cycling. Steel straight as it came from Aldo. Held at 790 (1454f) for a 5-minute soak then quenched.
It was no surprise that blank 3 was so soft. I'm confident there just wasn't enough time at heat to get the carbides into solution. I've personally been using method 1 from research and recommendations found on the forums. However, it is surprising to see sample 4 test so high. Maybe the steel is in good condition from the mill to heat treat.
I figure I'll let the people here more educated than I weigh-in and draw further conclusions.
Edit: added freedom units
It seems to be agreed upon that at a time in the past Aldo's W2 needed a soak well above critical to harden, this may or may not still be the case.
I tested 4 pieces of Aldos current W2, batch 15092. Heat treat done with a propane forge with baffle and thermocouple. All pieces quenched in brine (60 Celcius) 3 seconds then into warm oil till cool. Immediately tempered 2 times 2 hrs each at 195 c or ~380f. All blanks hardness tested in 3 places, the results were averaged, there were no low/high outliers
Blank 1 (62.5 HRC): 1x 15-minute soak at 950 c (1742 f). followed by 1 normalization cycle at 4 reducing temperatures with no soak, air-cooled to black, 900 c (1652f), 850 c (1562f), 800 c (1472f), 750 c (1382f). Quenched at 790 c (1454f) on a rising heat no soak. took 2 minutes to reach heat.
Blank 2 (60.5 HRC): 1x 15-minute soak at 950 c (1742 f). followed by 1 normalization cycle at 4 reducing temperatures with no soak, air-cooled to black, 900 c (1652f), 850 c (1562f), 800 c (1472f), 750 c (1382f). Held at 790 (1454f) for a 5-minute soak then quenched.
Blank 3 (50.5 HRC): No thermal cycling. Steel straight as it came from Aldo. Quenched at 790 c (1454f) on a rising heat no soak. took 2 minutes to reach heat.
Blank 4 (61.5 HRC): No thermal cycling. Steel straight as it came from Aldo. Held at 790 (1454f) for a 5-minute soak then quenched.
It was no surprise that blank 3 was so soft. I'm confident there just wasn't enough time at heat to get the carbides into solution. I've personally been using method 1 from research and recommendations found on the forums. However, it is surprising to see sample 4 test so high. Maybe the steel is in good condition from the mill to heat treat.
I figure I'll let the people here more educated than I weigh-in and draw further conclusions.
Edit: added freedom units
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