In article , Ed Huntress
wrote:

"Buerste" wrote in message
...

"JoanD'arcRoast" wrote in message
. ..
I shape my wood lathe tools by hand, and then heat treat in a campfire
and quench in used motor oil.

I have access to LN2, but wonder if it would make a noticeable
improvement of the O-1.

I know I will encounter inefficiencies due to Leidenfrost effect, even
if I pre-chill the steel to minus 80 C. (Perhaps I can roto-vac to make
slush, I'll have to explore that.)

Opinions?

Do you think my methods are too primitive and hit-or-miss to achieve
better sharpness and edge retention on the lathe tool?

Am I barking up the wrong tree? Would the little extra hardness gained
not be desirable for this application?

Pointers? Links?

Thanks for taking the trouble to read this mess,
-j

I've heard from experts that cyro is smoke and mirrors. The best thing
said is cyro provides superb stress relief. Your application and your
level of correct heat treatment limits what you can do. Send stuff out to
a heat treater. Your expectations are too high for home-brew.

Ah, guys, I think you're being trolled, if you haven't noticed.

JoanD'arcRoast is roasting you. d8-)

--
Ed Huntress


No Sir! Not trolling. Long-time lurker; I love this newsgroup! Probably
the widest range of practical, hands-on skills I've encountered in any
newsgroup, ever. Some folks with book knowledge, but a lot with long
hard-earned experience -- and I respect that.

I'm sorry if my questions are naive; (but dammit, Jim) I'm a 54 y.o.
carpenter and a woodturner, not a real toolmaker.

I was reading:
http://www.efunda.com/processes/heat_treat/matl_modify/cryogenic.cfm
and got the light-bulb over my head...

My wife runs a well-funded university lab, and offered to let me come
in over vacation some night and waste a buck or two of LN2. She's got
twenty years' experience, and her boss likes me... so I thought I'd
pick the group's brains about the O-1 steel hardening.

Cryogenic treatment of steel is well-accepted for certain applications;
I was simply asking whether it seemed feasible for my purposes...

-j

(If I was really trolling, I'd post OT political junk for Cliff and
Gunner to fight over!) :-)