First Heat treating stainless was a success!!
I wrapped the Magnacut in lower temp 321 foil and baked for 2 hours at 1300. My wrapping of the foil wasn't good, so I got some air in there, which is why they look ugly. Didn't seem to effect the process though! I got a hardwood roller and hand seamer and that worked pretty good! I used a hammer to smash down the thicker corners when I double seamed the knife packets.
Magnacut recipe was 2150 for 10 min, plate quenched (I just stood on the plates while the 2 blades were in between them). Then into a cold water bucket, then dried and into the Nitrogen. AEB-L got 1975 for 15 min then plate and cryo. I put the quench plates in cold water while the next 2 blades were soaking and dried them before quenching the next 2 blades.
Baby powder worked great getting them out of the foil!
Steaming after the cryo:
Tempering in the oven. Had to do a few tempers to get them where I wanted. Magnacut were showing 65-66 after cryo and first temper at 305 and AEB-L was showing 66-68!
10 Magnacut blades (5 are 1/8" and 5 are 3/32, one is hiding under another in the pic) and the 2 with big handles are AEB-L blades I found in my shop that I started several years ago and never heat treated, so I cut them down. The stubby bladed one was used on the FBBO RT below:
I used the carbide hammer and did some straightening, took only a few minutes on the worst blades each, others needed no hammering. I did use a press with the plate on a few and I should have seen if those were the few that didn't warp. The warp was pretty small on all of them. Even the AEB-L wasn't bad to straighten and I didn't do any stress relief/normalizing steps on it, either. Just cut off the longer blade (they were 6" boning knife blanks I cut out back in like 2013), and stick them in the foil.
AEB-L (63 HRC) FBBO RT with Natural G10 lined with Blue Aluminum twill, blue pins:
FBBO in Magnacut (64 HRC) with OD Green Canvas/Natural Burlap micarta handle, G10 orange pins and thick orange G10 liners, lanyard tube:
FBBO next to my bugout clone (lost my real one), which is what these are based off of!
I wrapped the Magnacut in lower temp 321 foil and baked for 2 hours at 1300. My wrapping of the foil wasn't good, so I got some air in there, which is why they look ugly. Didn't seem to effect the process though! I got a hardwood roller and hand seamer and that worked pretty good! I used a hammer to smash down the thicker corners when I double seamed the knife packets.
Magnacut recipe was 2150 for 10 min, plate quenched (I just stood on the plates while the 2 blades were in between them). Then into a cold water bucket, then dried and into the Nitrogen. AEB-L got 1975 for 15 min then plate and cryo. I put the quench plates in cold water while the next 2 blades were soaking and dried them before quenching the next 2 blades.
Baby powder worked great getting them out of the foil!
Steaming after the cryo:
Tempering in the oven. Had to do a few tempers to get them where I wanted. Magnacut were showing 65-66 after cryo and first temper at 305 and AEB-L was showing 66-68!
10 Magnacut blades (5 are 1/8" and 5 are 3/32, one is hiding under another in the pic) and the 2 with big handles are AEB-L blades I found in my shop that I started several years ago and never heat treated, so I cut them down. The stubby bladed one was used on the FBBO RT below:
I used the carbide hammer and did some straightening, took only a few minutes on the worst blades each, others needed no hammering. I did use a press with the plate on a few and I should have seen if those were the few that didn't warp. The warp was pretty small on all of them. Even the AEB-L wasn't bad to straighten and I didn't do any stress relief/normalizing steps on it, either. Just cut off the longer blade (they were 6" boning knife blanks I cut out back in like 2013), and stick them in the foil.
AEB-L (63 HRC) FBBO RT with Natural G10 lined with Blue Aluminum twill, blue pins:
FBBO in Magnacut (64 HRC) with OD Green Canvas/Natural Burlap micarta handle, G10 orange pins and thick orange G10 liners, lanyard tube:
FBBO next to my bugout clone (lost my real one), which is what these are based off of!
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