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Old 02-10-2017, 11:16 AM
WBE WBE is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 484
There is one fact missing in all of the above. Actual, individual grains, have no direction, once heated to austenitization temp. Individual grains in themselves, have direction only from being rolled at the mill. Once heated to austenizing temp, they become randomly shaped and remain that way. Afterwards, you cannot hammer them to have direction. What we call grain direction comes from the occlusions, and inclusions in the steel that are also stretched directionally with the grains in the rolling process, but stay that way. The steel grains collect on their elongated borders forming what may be called grain structures, but the grains, in of themselves, are of random shape and cannot be changed other than to re-roll the steel. Forging will do nothing to change that fact. A common knife blade is not in any way improved by forging, unless of a radical scimitar like design.
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