[TheForge] H13

[Demon Buddha]

Materials such as H13 are very good for hot work, but you cannot expect
miracles.  When doing hot work, you have to constantly take the edge off
the heat in the tool.  If you're cutting, take not more than three blows
and dip the tool into some paraffin.  Don't quench it to room temp, but
just get that extra heat out of it.  This keeps the tool from deforming
but doesn't subject it to all the thermal shock of a full quench.

H13, when used properly, is very tough stuff, but you can expect only
so much from it.  If you want super red hardness then use M2 or M82
HSS.  PRoblem therre is they are brittle.  Slam a punch through your
work and into the face of the anvil and you are likely to either
break the tool, mar the face of the anvil, or more likely both.

I use any hot tool like this:

<bang> <bang> <bang> <quick dip>... repeat as needed.  Seems to keep 
the tools alive longer.

Shannell Sugrue wrote:
> 
> I bought some h13 a while back, Id like to know what I should expect from
> it? I forged up a 1" wide chisel for hot slitting and ran it through a 1"
> bar under the air hammer banging it through the hardy to finish off, used 1
> heat for this, the chisel was pretty stuffed afterwards, the 2 corners were
> pretty deformed from the heat and you couldnt use it again without reforging
> and grinding. Is this what I should expect or was my heat treating off, all
> I did was forge it, took mabey 3-4 heats then took it to about bright orange
> heat and put it under the fan. I thought this stuff was meant to be tougher
> than this.
> 
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	-Andy V.

	It only takes one pork chop to put a kosher butcher out of business.