Why 3 heats to normalize?

[R.C.Reichert]

If I have some stock removal blades of 1084, is it necessary to heat and cool the steel a full 3 times each to do a normalization, or could I get away with just heating it once to 1600, letting it cool to black and then getting on with my hardening process?

I'm doing this in a forge, so I feel the more times I heat these things, the more room there is for error and it's not like an oven where I can just stick 5 blades in all at one time...so it's a little trickier.

 

[Willie71]

The normalization causes grain growth, so grain refinement is recommended to get better microstructures. The two grain refinement heats are below the normalizing temp.

in a forge, try bright red, then dull red x2. I don’t do this in a forge so someone might give you better info on colors.

 

[R.C.Reichert]

The normalization causes grain growth, so grain refinement is recommended to get better microstructures. The two grain refinement heats are below the normalizing temp.

in a forge, try bright red, then dull red x2. I don’t do this in a forge so someone might give you better info on colors.

So with stock removal, could I just do a couple lower temp grain refinement heats and skip the higher temp?

Nevermind... I think I know the answer to this. I'd wamt to do the normalizing heat first to get all the elements of the steel uniform and then refine from there... Just a PITA doing it in a forge.

 

[Willie71]

So with stock removal, could I just do a couple lower temp grain refinement heats and skip the higher temp?

Nevermind... I think I know the answer to this. I'd wamt to do the normalizing heat first to get all the elements of the steel uniform and then refine from there... Just a PITA doing it in a forge.

Where did you get the steel from? If AKS, no normalizing required. If NJSB, normalizing required.

 

[R.C.Reichert]

Where did you get the steel from? If AKS, no normalizing required. If NJSB, normalizing required.

I would be from Aldo's.

 

[Willie71]

I would be from Aldo's.

1650f normalize, two grain refinement cycles, then heat treat.

 

[Josh Rider]

So with stock removal, could I just do a couple lower temp grain refinement heats and skip the higher temp?

Nevermind... I think I know the answer to this. I'd wamt to do the normalizing heat first to get all the elements of the steel uniform and then refine from there... Just a PITA doing it in a forge.

That surprises me, I prefer normalizing and grain refining in a forge. Fast, you don’t have to wait for the kiln to cool.

 

[R.C.Reichert]

That surprises me, I prefer normalizing and grain refining in a forge. Fast, you don’t have to wait for the kiln to cool.

When I do the normalize and grain refinement, does it need to cool completely to room temp each time, or just to black and them back in the heat?

 

[Josh Rider]

I’ve always done it in a dark room and cooled to black.

 

[Willie71]

When I do the normalize and grain refinement, does it need to cool completely to room temp each time, or just to black and them back in the heat?

let it cool until it becomes magnetic again, then it could be reheated.

 

[R.C.Reichert]

let it cool until it becomes magnetic again, then it could be reheated.

Cool! That makes it go fairly quick.