03-20-2017, 02:44 PM
Hello all,
I just wanted to get a thread started on heat treating.
This is one area that the internet seems to have a lot of conflicting opinions.
If you read enough, you can get a pretty good idea about the process, and what parameters are involved.
For my first blade, I was going to outsource the HT, but, I decided that it was better to learn by doing, than having someone else do it.
I bought a used pottery kiln for a pretty decent price, and promptly brought it to the shop and cut a 6" hole in the lid. (It was a top loader)
After shaping a couple of fire bricks to cover the hole when heating, I started to test with some scraps.
Electric kilns take a long time to get to 1500F!
And cheap thermocouples catch fire around 700F!
How do you measure temperature?
Thermocouple, magnet or other?
What do you use for quench oil?
What temp do you heat your quench oil to, if you do?
Just trying to learn as much as I can before starting blade #2.
Thanks,
TW.
I just wanted to get a thread started on heat treating.
This is one area that the internet seems to have a lot of conflicting opinions.
If you read enough, you can get a pretty good idea about the process, and what parameters are involved.
For my first blade, I was going to outsource the HT, but, I decided that it was better to learn by doing, than having someone else do it.
I bought a used pottery kiln for a pretty decent price, and promptly brought it to the shop and cut a 6" hole in the lid. (It was a top loader)
After shaping a couple of fire bricks to cover the hole when heating, I started to test with some scraps.
Electric kilns take a long time to get to 1500F!
And cheap thermocouples catch fire around 700F!
How do you measure temperature?
Thermocouple, magnet or other?
What do you use for quench oil?
What temp do you heat your quench oil to, if you do?
Just trying to learn as much as I can before starting blade #2.
Thanks,
TW.