does any one have any info on heat treating tantung? I am not sure but i think I have some, I found it in a scrap metal bin on my base and it was very hard so I took it home and tested it. a hack saw wouldnt cut it and when I got a piece of it off I heated it up to a red hot and quenched it in water then hit it with my hammer. all it did was dent my hammer. A file does nothing when hard, but it does grind and polishes up well so I made a knife out of it. it is non magnetic and not flexible like talonite. so I did a search on cdk and none of the links to tantung info work so, could any one help me out.:confused:

http://www.ipnews.com/archives/materials/may00/fansteel_tantung_pic.htm

Tantung is non-ferrous, and doesn't utilize heat treat.

:confused: I am curious, no disrespect intended, did the company tell you that or are you suggesting that nonferous alloys are not heat treatable? have you heard of 2024 t-6 , that is aluminum and the t- stands for heat treatment. sure it is red hard but the article doesent suggest that it is not heat treatable. if I werent in Iraq right now I would call the company and ask them, but I cannot. can you elaborate on that comment please?:smokin

Some of the industrial tool manufacturers are now using tantung to replace carbide on their industrial quality shaper cutters, router bits, and saw blade tips. These companies offer the user a choice between tantung and carbide for the same tool.

I've seen and ground some of these tools. The cutting edges don't chip like carbide does. If overused, the working edge kind of rounds over instead of chipping.

A diamond grinding wheel won't cut this stuff. It just loads up and deflects. It's necessary to use CBN for precision grinding.

I wish the article had stated the rockwell harness of the as-cast alloy. I suspect it would be less than 50Rc.

I've wondered about the application to knives. It might be useful for certain hard use knives.

Since it has to be cast in a mold, it would probably be hard to find a suitable size and shape.

Originally posted by greer
:confused: I am curious, no disrespect intended, did the company tell you that or are you suggesting that nonferous alloys are not heat treatable? have you heard of 2024 t-6 , that is aluminum and the t- stands for heat treatment. sure it is red hard but the article doesent suggest that it is not heat treatable. if I werent in Iraq right now I would call the company and ask them, but I cannot. can you elaborate on that comment please?:smokin

Actually, I wasn't speaking of any other non-ferrous alloys, but tantung very specifically. I can see where what I wrote could be read different than what I intended. ;) I should have said "this particular non-ferrous alloy cannot be heat-treated".

Just so happens that 35 years ago I worked for VR/Wesson, and did research on tantung amongst other carbide alloys. Though I can't remember all the specifics, I have retained some slight info in the old gray matter. You can essentially think of tantung as having somewhat similar class properties to Talonite or Stellite. Like those, however, there are different alloys within the group that have varying proportions of the alloy components to vary the final properties. There were several grades of tantung we made and studied. Post-casting treatments such as hot press-rolling can also vary the final characteristics.

And, yes, I am aware of the fact there are hardenable non-ferrous alloys. Not this family of alloys, however.

Hope this helps. Take care, come home safe....

thank you elaborating for me, I sure apreciate it. I guess what I have may not be tantung. I will do more testing on it and see what happens. I appreciate you sharing your info on the subject. this forum is great, I have found most of the info that I need to help on my new journey of knife making on the net and through books, but there are questions that arise after I have studied all the material that I can find. this forum helps alot. than you.
Dont worry about me, the most dangerous thing I have dealt with in Iraq is my forge made from a shipping container. The Iraqi insergents as they say, cant hit the broad side of a barn...