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Old 05-15-2019, 03:15 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Decatur, IL
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Ok, no disrespect intended but I'm going to step on some toes here. I would not take the steel up to forging temperatures and then placing in in wood ash or anything else to slow the cooling. That can cause the carbides to clump and cause the hard spots that you are trying to avoid. You can take the the steel up to where it turns red but still attracts a magnet and then put it in the wood ash. That will spherodize the carbides and make it easier to grind and drill.

Also there is no reason that your steel shouldn't work harden because it's spring steel. All steels, or probably metals, will work harden if worked cold or bent back and forth. It's the constant flexing in use that will eventually destroy a spring.

Doug


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