Evenheat ordered!

[Matt Bufford]

I finally talked my wife into letting me order my HT oven. I guess after she saw how much I was paying for shipping and HT charges, she realized that I would spend more than the cost of an oven in a few months.

Only problem now is I have to get busy and wire my garage for 220


So of course... I have a question.

Which heat treat formulas do you guys typically reference? I know Tracy has a ton on his site, and there are many available through crucible. So which recipes have yielded you guys the best results?

Thanks. I'm excited!!!

[Ray Rogers]

For me, I always start with the factory specs and read them very closely. It amazes me to see what some guys have tried to do when they think they were following those instructions. Some experimenting is always necessary, even then. For stainless steels, I stay very close to whatever the factory says (after I'm sure I understand what they said!). For carbon steels, I usually start with the factory specs and then compare that to whatever 'super formula' other makers are using for that steel. That information can be used to tweak the formula. After you use a formula you MUST test your blades very hard, preferably to destruction to determine how well it worked. If you like the results you must be very careful to repeat exactly the same process each time you use it in the future. Be aware that the same steel from different batches may not HT exactly the same such that a different tempering temperature (for example) might be required to achieve the same results you had before so buy as much steel as you can at one time or repeat the tests each time unless you actually know what batch the steel is from....

[metal99]

Hey Slacker or Ray, Can a heat treat oven be used with carbon steels too? I was hunting around for a local knife maker to see if I could get some blades heat treated and they said they couldn't because they dont have a forge just heat treat ovens for stainless steel. It just don't understand because if there getting hot enough then where is the problem?

[SBuzek]

I use my kiln for H/Ting carbon steels quite a bit.works fine.Maybe they don't have oil for quenching.
Stan

[metal99]

Ahh maybe thats why they said they couldnt do it lol. I am thinking about getting a kiln because it just makes me feel better about having a great heat treat rather then a good heat treat by guessing in my forge.

[Ray Rogers]

Ditto, all my carbon blades are HTed in my Paragon but it's the quenchant that stops most commercial heat treaters from accepting carbon blades - air quenching stainless is soooo much easier. Carbon steel can benefit from precise temperature control during HT just the same as stainless can. Carbon steel has more latitude in the temperature range which is why a forge is OK but you can get more consistent results if you know what temperatures you're using ....

[metal99]

Well after I get my belt grinder or sander I will start saving up for an oven

[Matt Bufford]

Originally Posted by metal99

Well after I get my belt grinder or sander I will start saving up for an oven

better be careful, or you'll end up selling the forge and going full-on stock removal!!

[metal99]

Originally Posted by TheSlacker

better be careful, or you'll end up selling the forge and going full-on stock removal!!

Never man when I'm all set up to go I will be forging my own blades all the time