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Old 04-20-2018, 05:10 PM
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Ed Caffrey Ed Caffrey is offline
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A VERY rudimentary test for hardness is a NEW file. If the file skates off without cutting, you're got at least a certain level of hardness. If the file cuts, then you've missed the mark.

The good news is that O1 is pretty forgiving of errors. Unless you way overheat it, you've got at least a couple of chances to harden it.

"Seeing" if something is hard is impossible, but there are certain visible indicators. Namely, when the scale "blows" off during the quench. This is due to the steel contracting slightly, but the scale does not....so it falls off. This is by no means any indication that you nailed it....only that where the scale came off, it hardened to a degree.


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