[TheForge] S1 Heat Treating

[Grant Marcoux]

Ed:  S-1 would hold up better liquid quenched than air quenched, is it is
not an air-hardening grade, unlike S-7.  S-1 is an oil-quenched grade.  If
you want to quench it in brine, you may want to be sure that the brine
solution is not too cold.

heating with a torch is an iffy process at best, as it is difficult to
maintain an even heat.  H-13 will definitely crumble if over heated.  Slow
heating in a forge is better by far, especially if you protect the pieces by
creating an igloo of kiln shelf to put them in, which keeps the pieces from
direct flame of a gas forge.  they can also be heated in a length of pipe
when using a coke fire.  Coke fires must be CLEAN when heating these high
alloy steels.

					Grant

-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Ed F
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 6:06 AM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [TheForge] S1 Heat Treating


A while ago George Dixon posted a procedure for quenching H13 and/or S7 in
salt water.  It shocked me but I did try it on an S1 punch that I was using
for cold work in my flypress and it held up much better than air quenching
it had.  I had good luck with several punches afterward and gained
confidence, but of course when quenching some punches I put a lot of work
into it bit me.  When cleaning them up I realized that most of them cracked.
I think I can get the one time hot impression I need from them (although I
wanted to use them after this project, of course)  but I'm wondering what I
might do next time.

I think the problems may be related to the "care" I was taking to heat them
slowly in the gas forge and let them soak a bit.  Typically, I just use a
torch to heat the little 5/8 diameter x 2" long punches.  Some punches I
heat treated afterward weren't in the forge nearly as long (10 minutes vs.
20 or 30 mins) and didn't crack.

Ed
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