Oil Hardening Silver Steel
I think the heat treatment instructions that come with stubbs silver steel tells you to oil harden.
Oil hardening silver steel. Pure steel is actually too soft for many applications. One way to do this is to make the. Vegetable oil has a higher boiling point so the hot steel will take longer to cool and reduce the chance of it cracking. Hence it has a concave dome machined into one end.
Now let s see how you can harden a steel using motor oil. Sizes up to 8mm or 5 16 dia may be oil hardened from 800 810 c. Take a good look whatever colour red it is now is the right one for hardening. When the structure of the steel changes to its harder form the same change will also cause it to lose any attraction for the magnet.
However oil may spill and create a fire hazard if the steel is put into the oil too quickly. Oil hardening o1 tool steel bars with certification. Oversized multipurpose oil hardening o1 tool steel bars. Water is great for rapidly quenching the hot metal but it could cause thin steel to distort or crack.
Aaa quenching oil is the most popular and widely used quenchant offered by park. This is a good quenchant to use with 1095 high carbon steel. When you are finished with heating pick the steel using tongs and immediately immerse into the motor oil. Hardening steel with motor oil is a way of performing what is called the case hardening of steel.
In this particular instance i m hardening a piece of silver steel that is to be used as a rivet punch. In order to put a hard layer on the steel carbon must be fused at the molecular level into the top centimeter or so of the steel. Heat uniformly to 770 780 c until heated through. Heat the steel and dip it in motor oil.
I m hardening just the end that fits over the rivet. Keep heating the steel until it turns to red hot. You can also use a furnace with bellows. The thickness on these bars is precision ground and held to a tight tolerance.
If hardening silver steel you are supposed hold it at this temperature for five minutes for every quarter inch of thickness. All come with a traceable lot number and test report. First heat the steel by using a torch. This is a good quenchant with something like a 1084 carbon steel.