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Old 11-29-2017, 11:19 AM
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Grayshadow95 Grayshadow95 is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Michigan
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Dave,
I tempered the blade that was straight the same day, but not the one that is warped.

The process I've found for annealing D2 is:

"Heat slowly to 1550?-1600?F, hold until entire mass is heated through, and cool slowly in the furnace (40?F per hour) to about 1000?F, after which cooling rate may be increased. Suitable precautions must be taken to prevent excessive carburization or decarburization."

Does this look correct?
Since I use an electric kiln for heating, heating slowly isn't an issue, that's the only way it works!
Cooling at 40 degrees per hour would be more difficult. My kiln doesn't have precise temperature controls, just a rheostat with settings from OFF to HIGH in 7 segments, but it does have a good temperature readout. Would simply shutting off the kiln and letting it cool down over night with the door closed be an appropriate course of action? I never thought to time how quickly the kiln cools down.

So, once it is annealed, I can then attempt to straighten it? About the only way I could bend it now would be to clamp it in my big bench vise with 3 rods and a lot of force! These blades are very tough.

Jim,
Interesting process. I do have a 20 ton hydraulic press, but I'm out of acetylene for my torch. Have been meaning to get more, but I don't use it all that much.
The blade is 6.5 inches long, and the tang is a little over 4 inches. The warp is in the blade only, and is basically a continuous curve starting at the tang and going to the tip.

Thanks for the info guys, I'll have to give this a bit of thought.
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