[TheForge] heat treating L6/1095

Wed Jul 30 01:21:00 2003

Andy:  The L6 (Latrobe's version) often has a fair amount of molybdenum in
it, hence the seeming hardness.  Best way to prepare for hardening is to
fully anneal the billet in preheated sand, ashes or vermiculite to SLOW
cool.  I prefer vermiculite.  It should cut/grind readily then.

Hardening temps for 1095 and L6 are similar, around 1550 to 1600F critical
temp.  Preheat billet and allow 1 hour soak at critical temp for each inch
of thickness....if your blade is 1/4" thick, allow 15 minutes.  Quench in
room temp quenching oil.   Light mineral oil will substitute.

Temper in kitchen oven by setting to 450F.  Brighten hardened billet before
tempering to check color.  I temper my L6 blades to dark straw color,
preferring homogenous hardening to differential hardening.

L6 is high in Nickel, so it makes VERY tough blades, support of core should
be no problem.

I typically cut tool steels with a chop saw vs. a metallic bladed band saw

What temperature/color range did you weld it in?  Gas or coke fire?  Power
or hand hammer?

                                            Grant
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "gladish" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 4:57 PM
Subject: [TheForge] heat treating L6/1095

> Just made my first billet- just a 3 layer sandwich, L6 bread and 1095
> cheese.
> I was pretty pleased with myself, until I realised that I have no clue
what
> the best way to heat treat it would be.
> The L6 is really tough in any state, I think, I bought it as dead soft and
> the bandsaw acted like it was medium hard...
> So I'm wondering if it will do its job supporting the core even if I
harden
> the heck out of it, or should I make the spine soft and the edge hard?
> I'm not that good at differential hardening on a curved blade, yet...
> Something simple would be nice, since it's my first one.
> Thanks, All!
> Andy G.
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