"Martin Whybrow" wrote in message
news
Further to my last post (Material for clamping wedges), I've now
determined
that the original parts were case hardened steel.
I will be making the parts up soon, but I don't know what grades of steel
can be case hardened; the commonly listed steels for case hardening are
EN3B
(SAE 1017 or 1022) and EN32 (SAE1016), but these are not readily available
in small quantities (600mm / 2'). I can obtain EN1A (free machining mild
steel, no direct SAE equivalent) or EN8B (closest equivalents are SAE1040
and SAE1038) from model-engineer-friendly suppliers, but I am unsure if
these can be case hardened. I plan on using Kasenit case hardening powder
to
harden these parts. Can anyone enlighten me?
Martin.

Sticking to ordinary grades of low-carbon steel, I have yet to find one that
wouldn't take a decent case using Kasenit, and I've been using it for about
40 years.

I haven't *intentionally* tried to harden medium-carbon steels, such as
1040, but I'll bet it would be reasonably satisfactory. I've probably done
it without knowing what grade I was working with.

What are you trying to achieve? A very thin case, or a thicker one? Thin
cases are much easier and put less stress on the steel. So you don't have to
bother about tempering them.

--
Ed Huntress