"Gunner" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 4 Dec 2008 00:07:25 -0500, "Buerste" wrote:


"JoanD'arcRoast" wrote in message
g...
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.


In some rifle barrels...cryo works wonders for improving
consistency...IE accuracy.

Ive several that were cryo 'd and got significant improvements in
group size. Though both were high quality barrels in the first place.

A buddy had a stock , early factory barrel done, and while the
accuracy was improved....not all that much. There were more issues
than just stress relief involved in its inability to shoot extremely
well.

Gunner


Years ago, I made a batch of twelve 8" x 7/8" D-2 rotary wire cutters. Half
we had cyro treated after there were all heat treated and triple drawn. We
kept logs that showed no improvement in life between sharpenings. I talked
to my friend George at IVAC, the TiN coating company, and he explained cyro
to me. It has it's uses but it's just not magic.