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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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#1
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
and also a way of identifying what carbon steel Ive got, the store selling
said it was drill rod, but they didnt know any more then that. |
#2
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
Reyd Dorakeen wrote:
and also a way of identifying what carbon steel Ive got, the store selling said it was drill rod, but they didnt know any more then that. Heat a piece of it red hot then plonk it into a can of oil. Test hardness with a file. The file should skate off the piece if it is fully hardened. Try the same act with a can of water. If it is water hardening, it will not be as hard as it can get if quenched in oil. If it is oil hardening, it may split when quenched in water, though not reliably. :-) Once it's hardened, you temper it by heating it in an oven, or polish it a bit and heat it slowly with a torch. You can roughly judge the temperature by the change in color. Once the desired color is reached, quench it in water to stop the temper ing from going any further. That's the real short version. Cheers Trevor Jones |
#3
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
On Wed, 17 Mar 2004 03:05:34 +0000, Reyd Dorakeen wrote:
and also a way of identifying what carbon steel Ive got, the store selling said it was drill rod, but they didnt know any more then that. http://www.key-to-steel.com/Articles/Art12.htm Is a good site about metal and alot of things related to it .. (This is a direct link to hardening steel and if im not mistaking it takes up tempering it also) |
#4
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
Assuming it is not HSS:
Heat to beyond magnetic, quench in water or oil and place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. HSS drill rod is not heat-treatable in the ordinary home shop. Most drill rod and steel stock we see advertised in catalogs is ordinary "carbon" steel and is heat treatable. Generally, steel including drill rod, comes with instructions for heat treatment. W-1 (water hardening) is the best choice for home shop use. Bob Swinney "Reyd Dorakeen" wrote in message ... and also a way of identifying what carbon steel Ive got, the store selling said it was drill rod, but they didnt know any more then that. |
#5
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
the store couldnt tell me.
Assuming it is not HSS: Heat to beyond magnetic, quench in water or oil and place in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour. HSS drill rod is not heat-treatable in the ordinary home shop. Most drill rod and steel stock we see advertised in catalogs is ordinary "carbon" steel and is heat treatable. Generally, steel including drill rod, comes with instructions for heat treatment. W-1 (water hardening) is the best choice for home shop use. Bob Swinney "Reyd Dorakeen" wrote in message ... and also a way of identifying what carbon steel Ive got, the store selling said it was drill rod, but they didnt know any more then that. |
#6
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
"Reyd Dorakeen" wrote in message
... the store couldnt tell me. Assuming it is not HSS: If the store can't tell you, then it's not high-speed steel. In fact, you'll be lucky if it's really drill rod, and not plain cold-rolled mild steel. Is it ground on the outside, or just dull silver? Do you have a bench grinder? If so, someone here probably can direct you to a site that illustrates spark tests to determine steel grades. The standard grades aren't hard to tell apart. Ed Huntress |
#7
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
just silver, it says on the reciept carbon steel drill rod, so if it isn't,
I think I can take it back. would a belt sander do instead of the grinder? in article , Ed Huntress at wrote on 3/17/04 10:13 PM: "Reyd Dorakeen" wrote in message ... the store couldnt tell me. Assuming it is not HSS: If the store can't tell you, then it's not high-speed steel. In fact, you'll be lucky if it's really drill rod, and not plain cold-rolled mild steel. Is it ground on the outside, or just dull silver? Do you have a bench grinder? If so, someone here probably can direct you to a site that illustrates spark tests to determine steel grades. The standard grades aren't hard to tell apart. Ed Huntress |
#8
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
"Reyd Dorakeen" wrote in message
... would a belt sander do instead of the grinder? If it throws sparks. Got a Dremel? Tim -- "I have misplaced my pants." - Homer Simpson | Electronics, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --+ Metalcasting and Games: http://webpages.charter.net/dawill/tmoranwms |
#9
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
"Reyd Dorakeen" wrote in message
... just silver, it says on the reciept carbon steel drill rod, so if it isn't, I think I can take it back. would a belt sander do instead of the grinder? It's probably not fast enough. If you want to assume they're right, and that it's plain carbon steel, you shouldn't have much trouble hardening it. There is a lot of odd stuff on the market today, with all of the imports, but just be aware that plain-carbon-steel drill rod, once the most common type, became less common than the alloyed, oil-hardening type around the 1970s. So people here may be wondering what you really have. Anyway, if you have enough of it to sacrifice a 1-inch chunk for a test, you can try the heat-and-quench test that someone described here, I think. If it's not really drill rod, it won't get hard. If it gets really hard, you have drill rod, but you don't know which type. At that point I'd assume they're telling you straight that it's plain-carbon, and treat it as a water-hardening steel. I think you've gotten some directions here for doing that. Ed Huntress |
#10
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can somone tell me how to harden carbon steel
Reyd
If you've got real good ventilation, you could case harden it. My grandfather, who grew up as a blacksmith, used to do that occasionally to carbon steel. Get some sodium cyanide pellets, put them in a sturdy metal pan and melt them (traditionally you set them in the forge, but he used a propane torch - melts at 568 deg. C according to my "Handbook of Chemistry and Physics"). Stick the piece to be hardened in and let sit. Rule of thumb is 1/32" of depth per minute (though I think it hits a diffusion limit around 8-10 minutes). Be careful, cyanide is toxic and molten salts are tricky to work with. My grandfather was pretty casual about doing it, but he grew up in the era of lineshafts and expendable oil punks (the kids that crawled around in the rafters and oiled the bearings while things were running - if they got tangled up in the belts, you just got another one). Jim |
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