[TheForge] Re: hardening and tenpering of H-13

[Mike Linn]

If its 12" long you should never get the working end hot enough to harden. 
If you do get it that hot the best way to anneal it is to heat it back up 
and let the working end slowly cool in vermiculite.  Typically I make my 
tools 3-4" long heat up and forge just the working end and let it air cool, 
then use as is. Never had a chip or crack.  I DO NOT use my good forging 
hammer as a striker, but use a hand sledge or ball pein.

mike

At 06:05 PM 1/16/02 -0800, you wrote:
>John,
>
>Can you give more details regarding your tempering process on H-13,  say
>you have a tool you have built that is 12' long,  do you evenly forge heat
>it to a yellow heat,  allow to air cool and then slowly reheat the working
>end, say the last 3 inches or so in the forge or with a torch to a faint
>red in the shadows and then allow to air cool once again.
>
>Thanks,
>
>Roger Olsen
>__________________
>
>John Newman wrote:
>
> > I use H13 on cold steel regularly and find it holds up well.  I used a
> > H13 punch in my flypress to punch over 200 1/4" holes cold and it still
> > looks fine. You have to temper it to a faint red in the shadows after
> > air hardening it at a yellow heat.  If you skip the temper the edge
> > dulls.  I have found H13 to be fairly cheap as well (12' of 3/8" and
> > 1/2" round for $30 Cdn.)
> >
> > John Newman
> >
> > Frederick Faller wrote:
> >
> > > These pins are typically an H-13 steel that must
> > > withstand the high working temperatures of the molding
> > > process.
> > >
> > >  (H-13 is self
> > > hardening steel) If you work the steel cold, these
> > > will dull up as they are not a particullarly hard
> > > steel, so don't use them for cold cutting, but with
> > > hot work, you never have to worry about losing
> > > hardeness with tempering because they self harden.
> > >
> > >
> >
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         Michael Linn
       Artist Blacksmith
      McCalla, Alabama
       AFC Webmaster
http://afc.abana-chapter.com