MEMBER ITEMS FOR SALE
Custom Knives | Other Knives | General Items
-------------------------------------------
New Posts | New PhotosAll Photos



Go Back   The Knife Network Forums : Knife Making Discussions > Custom Knife Discussion Boards > Knife Making Discussions > The Newbies Arena

The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 05-14-2019, 01:58 PM
EntaGeweorc EntaGeweorc is offline
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2
Steel hardened without quenching?

Howdy folks, very amateur blacksmith here. I've been working on shaping a chunk of 5160 in my coal forge and now that I'm starting to grind before I do the heat treat I keep hitting spots where the file (I like to hand file small details) keeps sliding right off as if its been hardened from quenching.

-I've been getting it to yellow/bright orange heat so I know if it somehow had any hardness from its previous life as a truck leaf spring it would be gone
-It's a coal forge
-Whenever I'm done working it I let it air cool
-Has NOT been quenched
-I only hammer it when its at least cherry red so it shouldn't be work hardening (although that shouldn't happen anyway because its spring steel)
-Some spots the file bites, while others it skates right off

Any thoughts? I'm really puzzled on this one and want to see if I can fix it before I ruin some grinding belts just trying to muscle through it
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 05-15-2019, 08:01 AM
Ray Rogers's Avatar
Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
Founding Member / Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wauconda, WA
Posts: 9,840
Fact: your steel has hard spots however they got there. To avoid any hardening from air cooling try putting the steel in a bucket of wood ash when you are done working on it so that it cools very slowly. Take the steel up to forging temp and then put in in the center of the largest amount of wood ash you can manage (I use a 55 gallon drum of it). That will anneal it...


__________________

Your question may already have been answered - try the Search button first!






Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 05-15-2019, 03:15 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
Hall of Famer
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Decatur, IL
Posts: 2,612
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


__________________
If you're not making mistakes then you're not trying hard enough
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 05-16-2019, 06:31 AM
Crex's Avatar
Crex Crex is offline
Moderator
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Acworth, GA and/or Hanging Dog, NC
Posts: 3,583
Agree with Doug, you are probably causing the problem. Usually 5160 can be run through a couple of normalizing cycles (below critical temp) to make stock removal/filing easier. Higher temp is not the answer. Another thing you might consider - the leaf spring might not be 5160, not all vehicle springs are.


__________________
Carl Rechsteiner, Bladesmith
Georgia Custom Knifemakers Guild, Charter Member
Knifemakers Guild, voting member
Registered Master Artist - GA Council for the Arts
C Rex Custom Knives

Blade Show Table 6-H
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 05-16-2019, 08:43 AM
Ray Rogers's Avatar
Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
Founding Member / Moderator
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wauconda, WA
Posts: 9,840
No toe stepping, my bad.....


__________________

Your question may already have been answered - try the Search button first!






Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 05-18-2019, 08:33 PM
EntaGeweorc EntaGeweorc is offline
 
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2
Thanks for all the responses guys! I'm gonna try to just normalize it, and if that doesn't work I'm going to try to anneal it (emphasis on try, my workspace isn't terribly conducive to reading temperature by steel color so it makes my precision less than ideal). With any luck it'll work and I can finally get to grinding!
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 05-20-2019, 05:15 AM
lincy lincy is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 7
Thanks for sharing the informative post.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
5160, amateur, bee, belts, blacksmith, ca, cold, drill, fac, file, forge, forging, grind, grinding, hammer, hand, heat, heat treat, make, problem, small, steel, stock removal, wood, yellow


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Differentially Hardened D-2 Harris Heat Treating and Metallurgy 1 03-10-2014 02:39 PM
Differentially hardened D-2 Boshi Heat Treating and Metallurgy 2 10-24-2010 10:44 AM
Press Quenching 01 Steel RJ Martin Heat Treating and Metallurgy 18 04-08-2006 10:52 AM
Adding Serrations to Hardened Steel Billl223 The Newbies Arena 4 08-02-2005 02:03 PM
choice of steel and triple quenching? Coutel The Newbies Arena 10 08-10-2002 01:41 PM


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:50 PM.




KNIFENETWORK.COM
Copyright © 2000
? CKK Industries, Inc. ? All Rights Reserved
Powered by ...

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
The Knife Network : All Rights Reserved