[TheForge] Superquench/hardening power hammer dies

[PlumDon at aol.com]

The recent superquench discussion has prompted a question: do we really  need 
to heat treat our power hammer dies?  I have some of 4140  and 5160 and do 
not think they have been hardened and tempered. I grind them  back to shape 
about every six months on my 2x72 Grizzly. Not a REAL heavy user  but they do see 
some action. I wonder if heat treating out weighs the gain from  not.
 
I got the impression from a couple of the posts that many of the power  
hammer dies are not hardened.