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#1
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Steel hardened without quenching?
Howdy folks, very amateur blacksmith here. I've been working on shaping a chunk of 5160 in my coal forge and now that I'm starting to grind before I do the heat treat I keep hitting spots where the file (I like to hand file small details) keeps sliding right off as if its been hardened from quenching.
-I've been getting it to yellow/bright orange heat so I know if it somehow had any hardness from its previous life as a truck leaf spring it would be gone -It's a coal forge -Whenever I'm done working it I let it air cool -Has NOT been quenched -I only hammer it when its at least cherry red so it shouldn't be work hardening (although that shouldn't happen anyway because its spring steel) -Some spots the file bites, while others it skates right off Any thoughts? I'm really puzzled on this one and want to see if I can fix it before I ruin some grinding belts just trying to muscle through it |
#2
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Fact: your steel has hard spots however they got there. To avoid any hardening from air cooling try putting the steel in a bucket of wood ash when you are done working on it so that it cools very slowly. Take the steel up to forging temp and then put in in the center of the largest amount of wood ash you can manage (I use a 55 gallon drum of it). That will anneal it...
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#3
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Ok, no disrespect intended but I'm going to step on some toes here. I would not take the steel up to forging temperatures and then placing in in wood ash or anything else to slow the cooling. That can cause the carbides to clump and cause the hard spots that you are trying to avoid. You can take the the steel up to where it turns red but still attracts a magnet and then put it in the wood ash. That will spherodize the carbides and make it easier to grind and drill.
Also there is no reason that your steel shouldn't work harden because it's spring steel. All steels, or probably metals, will work harden if worked cold or bent back and forth. It's the constant flexing in use that will eventually destroy a spring. Doug __________________ If you're not making mistakes then you're not trying hard enough |
#4
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Agree with Doug, you are probably causing the problem. Usually 5160 can be run through a couple of normalizing cycles (below critical temp) to make stock removal/filing easier. Higher temp is not the answer. Another thing you might consider - the leaf spring might not be 5160, not all vehicle springs are.
__________________ Carl Rechsteiner, Bladesmith Georgia Custom Knifemakers Guild, Charter Member Knifemakers Guild, voting member Registered Master Artist - GA Council for the Arts C Rex Custom Knives Blade Show Table 6-H |
#5
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No toe stepping, my bad.....
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#6
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Thanks for all the responses guys! I'm gonna try to just normalize it, and if that doesn't work I'm going to try to anneal it (emphasis on try, my workspace isn't terribly conducive to reading temperature by steel color so it makes my precision less than ideal). With any luck it'll work and I can finally get to grinding!
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#7
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Thanks for sharing the informative post.
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Tags |
5160, amateur, bee, belts, blacksmith, ca, cold, drill, fac, file, forge, forging, grind, grinding, hammer, hand, heat, heat treat, make, problem, small, steel, stock removal, wood, yellow |
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