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High-Performance Blades Sharing ideas for getting the most out of our steel.

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  #1  
Old 05-21-2012, 07:01 AM
Br Saber Tooth Br Saber Tooth is offline
 
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Location: From rio de Janeiro, but Lliving in São Paulo city , Brazil
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Steel?s memory

Hi everybody!

I?ve heard that if make a knife from spring leaf steel, you will have to watch out for the "steel?s memory", when trying to straight it out and make it flat, ?cause it usually comes back to its prime bent form. How can I do that, then?
Please help me out!
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Old 05-21-2012, 10:11 AM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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This is another can of worms. Some hold that this is a fact and other's an old wives's tale, all with the same certainty. Heat the steel to non-magnetic and then get it just a little brighter, if you are heating by eye in a forge. Take it up to about 1450-1475 degrees in a heat treating oven, if that's what you're using. Straighten the blade/billet. Repeat the proceedure three times. This should allow the crystals to reform and release stress from the steel.

Doug


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Old 05-21-2012, 10:43 AM
Br Saber Tooth Br Saber Tooth is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: From rio de Janeiro, but Lliving in São Paulo city , Brazil
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Thanks for your tip.

I do have a forge, so could you explain again how can I do this?

"Heat the steel to non-magnetic (I?ve got that part) and then get it just a little brighter,you are heating by eye in a forge"???

Thanks again!
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Old 05-21-2012, 12:17 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Here's what's happening. Steel becomes non-magnetic just before the iron crystals change phase. That change is austinizing. Because it happens just before it changes you have to get the steel a little brighter, meaning hotter, and, yes, you are sort of going by eye. What is happening is that the crystals don't just pop into a new configuration. New crystals form on the boundaries of the old crystals and the linkage between the crystals also for and stress put into the steel by forging or machining is relieved.

You don't want to overheat the steel for any period of time while you are doing this because that can allow the crystals to consolidate and grow larger causing a courser more brittle structure. What we are talking about here is called normaization; austinizing the steel and then allowing it to air cool (assuming that the steel is not air quenching-but you shouldn't have to worry about that with old springs).

Doug


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