Anyone have a good link to instructions for home case-hardening? I've
googled a bit and the advice out there is....highly variable. General
hints and so on also gratefully accepted.

Dave Hinz

Hey Dave,

There was a thread here on RCM starting December 9/05

Subject: "Casenite/Kasenit"

which might prove fruitful if you can do a deja-vu or whatever its
called. It was OP'ed by Peter ???, but as I recall there were a few
replies, including Jan-Eric. think.

Take care.

Brian Lawson,
Bothwell, Ontario.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On 27 Feb 2006 17:02:19 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

Anyone have a good link to instructions for home case-hardening? I've
googled a bit and the advice out there is....highly variable. General
hints and so on also gratefully accepted.

Dave Hinz

It is a highly variable process. For professional info get a copy of
Heat-Treating, Cleaning and Finishing, Metals Handbook, Vol 2, 8th edition.
The used book sites usually have copies for about $20.

For gunsmithing related refinishing see:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Gen...f=INST-531.pdf


Randy

"Dave Hinz" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a good link to instructions for home case-hardening? I've
googled a bit and the advice out there is....highly variable. General
hints and so on also gratefully accepted.

Dave Hinz

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 12:01:37 -0600, R. O'Brian wrote:

For gunsmithing related refinishing see:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/Gen...f=INST-531.pdf

Ah, perfect. Funny that they start out by saying, basically, "lots of
conflicing information out there, so here's our take on it". It's
always nice to have someone acknowledge that at the get-go. If everyone
has a different approach, chances are it doesn't matter all that much,
way I look at it. Thanks for the link!

Dave

On 27 Feb 2006 17:02:19 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

Anyone have a good link to instructions for home case-hardening?

Find some _old_stock_ Kasenit. Follow the instructions.

Or else send it out to a commercial heat-treat shop who have liquid
baths and the fume extraction to make use of them.

Nothing in the middle seems to work very well. It's not a question of
technique, it's a question of materials - and the new stuff just isn't
what old Kasenit used to be.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 23:24:19 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On 27 Feb 2006 17:02:19 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

Anyone have a good link to instructions for home case-hardening?

Find some _old_stock_ Kasenit. Follow the instructions.

Or else send it out to a commercial heat-treat shop who have liquid
baths and the fume extraction to make use of them.

Nothing in the middle seems to work very well. It's not a question of
technique, it's a question of materials - and the new stuff just isn't
what old Kasenit used to be.
Andy,
I didn't know if it was me or the Kasenit. But you say it's the
Kasenit that doesn't work as well as it used to, so that mystery is
solved. Anyway, what I do now is to heat the part, dip into Kasenit,
heat, dip, heat, dip, then hold at dull red heat for a minute or so,
maybe two minutes, then plunge into cold water. This method, with the
new Kasenit, seems to work as well as a single dip into the stuff when
I first learned about it 24 years ago. Finding old stock stuff might
be kinda hard. But I do know where about a pound of the stuff is. I
think I'll give my old boss a call and see if he wants to give it up.
Since I was the only one who ever used it.
Eric

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:28:56 -0800, Eric R Snow
wrote:

I didn't know if it was me or the Kasenit.

It's the Kasenit. Now I'd just like to know _what_ the difference is.
I've heard rumours that it's a reduced activity so that there's less
cyanide floating out of the hot tin, but nothing definite.

Anyway, what I do now is to heat the part, dip into Kasenit,
heat, dip, heat, dip, then hold at dull red heat for a minute or so,
maybe two minutes, then plunge into cold water.

The "sealed box and heat the whole lot" is much better too, but it's
long winded and expensive of materials.

To be honest, I just don't case harden any more. Good steels are cheap
and commonplace, time is expensive - if I want to harden something, I
make it from the right stuff in the first place (Mr Plasma and his
friend Mr Pneumatic Belt Sander help too).

If I'm case hardening these days, it's faffing around with Bloody
Vikings or some such and we've got tin boxes full of horse toenails to
play with.

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:28:56 -0800, Eric R Snow
wrote:

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 23:24:19 +0000, Andy Dingley
wrote:

On 27 Feb 2006 17:02:19 GMT, Dave Hinz wrote:

Anyone have a good link to instructions for home case-hardening?

Find some _old_stock_ Kasenit. Follow the instructions.

Or else send it out to a commercial heat-treat shop who have liquid
baths and the fume extraction to make use of them.

Nothing in the middle seems to work very well. It's not a question of
technique, it's a question of materials - and the new stuff just isn't
what old Kasenit used to be.
Andy,
I didn't know if it was me or the Kasenit. But you say it's the
Kasenit that doesn't work as well as it used to, so that mystery is
solved. Anyway, what I do now is to heat the part, dip into Kasenit,
heat, dip, heat, dip, then hold at dull red heat for a minute or so,
maybe two minutes, then plunge into cold water. This method, with the
new Kasenit, seems to work as well as a single dip into the stuff when
I first learned about it 24 years ago. Finding old stock stuff might
be kinda hard. But I do know where about a pound of the stuff is. I
think I'll give my old boss a call and see if he wants to give it up.
Since I was the only one who ever used it.
Eric
I think that perhaps the started to wash the contaminants off the
hooves before grinding them into the blend. the plant workers are
exposed to more than enough horse sh*t from management without having
to be exposed to it on the raw feed stock.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

Eric R Snow wrote:

I didn't know if it was me or the Kasenit. But you say it's the
Kasenit that doesn't work as well as it used to, so that mystery is
solved. Anyway, what I do now is to heat the part, dip into Kasenit,
heat, dip, heat, dip, then hold at dull red heat for a minute or so,
maybe two minutes, then plunge into cold water.

My Kasenit (or the German equivalent) is _very_ old, but it still works.
The time you hold the piece at "red-temperature" has influence on the
depth of the carbon enriched steel. That's clear.
I see that I get enough carbon when, when I quench the part, the color
of the hardened part changes. If all the debris/sooth falls off by
quenching, it is OK.

Nick
--
Motor Modelle // Engine Models
http://www.motor-manufaktur.de
DIY-DRO // Eigenbau-Digitalanzeige
http://www.yadro.de

Dave

Basically case hardening is diffusing carbon into a steel surface to get
a high carbon alloy on the surface. There are lots of ways of doing
that, so there are lots of methods that work. My grandfather, who grew
up as a blacksmith, used sodium cyanide. He'd melt it and put the metal
in. 1/32" depth per minute was his rule of thumb. He always did it
outside and stayed upwind (or did it in the forge) so he didn't poison
himself. Frankly, I'm not that confident and happy to pay others to do it.

Jim