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

[Dave Brown]

At 18:09 01/17/02 -0500, you wrote:
>You can not temper h13 by allowing it to slow cool in vermiculite
>
>Bob

Bob - are you sure you mean 'temper' and not 'anneal"?  You need a 
controlled cooling to anneal over a very long time,  But tempering is done 
at time and temperature after which the H13 can just be let to air cool as 
you would for hardening.

Per Property Data sheet at 
http://www.principalmetals.com/properties/result.asp?Family=Tool+Steels&MetalName=H13

To harden:  "Preheat to 1500 f and then heat to 1850 F. Hold at 1850 f for 
15 to 40 minutes and then air cool (air quench)."


To anneal:  "Anneal at 1600 F followed by slow furnace cooling at a maximum 
of 40 F per hour."

To temper:  "Temper at 1000 F to 1200 F for Rockwell C of 53 to 38. It is 
advisable to do a double temper by repeating the process and use 1 hour at 
temperature each time."