George, I got a copy of "Tool Steel Simplified" 4th edition based on your suggestion. Got it from the interlibrary loan program. Very good read on what is tool steel and how it is made. Most useful part is selecting the right tool steel for the job. Try getting a copy from your local library. Took a couple of weeks for a copy to come in but was worth the wait.
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Metal hardening
- Thread starter blacksmithden
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- Jul 26, 2011
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There is an excellent hardening book at Amazon,by Jim Szumera. Costs less than $22.00. I can't recall the exact title,just Google his name. I used this book at work,and had to leave it as it belonged to the museum. I just ordered myself a personal copy. It's something like "The tool steel guide". They had 7 left a few days ago when I ordered mine. I have other books,but this one is my favorite. Less complicated than "Tool Steel Simplified" by Carpenter Steel,which I have had for many years. They use their own brand names for the different steels,which is not as quick to reference. Szumera also says to temper the steel as soon as you can barely hold it in your hand,which is valuable info..
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*This information is basically in a nutshell fro someone who has never heat treated steel before*
I heat treated a O1 (presumably) piece for a hand scraper blade. I heated it up with a Mapp torch till it got to a dull red, and kept checking it with a strong magnet. When it got to the point where it lost it's magnetism, I heated it a little more (lost some heat during the magnet test) and quenched it in old cooking oil. (Mmmm french fries!) and it got nice and hard. I did flame the oil, so be careful.
For a trigger, you want it to be hard so it doesn't wear out. For safety and reliability.
Some food for thought:
http://www.hocktools.com/diyht.htm
http://www.crucible.com/eselector/general/generalpart2.html
http://www.threeplanes.net/toolsteel.html
http://buffaloprecision.com/data_sheets/DSO1TSbpp.pdf
http://www.speedymetals.com/information/Material9.html
(Although you can find these links yourself, everyone gets different browser results so you may not find these in the first few pages.)
I heat treated a O1 (presumably) piece for a hand scraper blade. I heated it up with a Mapp torch till it got to a dull red, and kept checking it with a strong magnet. When it got to the point where it lost it's magnetism, I heated it a little more (lost some heat during the magnet test) and quenched it in old cooking oil. (Mmmm french fries!) and it got nice and hard. I did flame the oil, so be careful.
For a trigger, you want it to be hard so it doesn't wear out. For safety and reliability.
Some food for thought:
http://www.hocktools.com/diyht.htm
http://www.crucible.com/eselector/general/generalpart2.html
http://www.threeplanes.net/toolsteel.html
http://buffaloprecision.com/data_sheets/DSO1TSbpp.pdf
http://www.speedymetals.com/information/Material9.html
(Although you can find these links yourself, everyone gets different browser results so you may not find these in the first few pages.)
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2011
- Messages
- 40
Yes...both parts I need to make are small...just a hammer and trigger. The Metal Supermarket here has a bits and pieces section as well. I was in a bit of a hurry by the time I got there, so I just grabbed a bar they had on the shelf...walked up to pay for it....choked a bit....and hurried along to my next stop.
One thing I should ask before sacrificing another perfectly good end mill to the gods of inexperience. What end mill material should I be using on this stuff ? Should I be looking for a pure carbide one, or will the HSS or cobalt ones I already have do the job ?
I've had pretty good luck machining O1 with M42 on the lathe , and just regular HSS end mills . The key is heat control , either machine slowly <low RPM's on either machine> or use coolant .
Re: Metal hardening UPDATE
I thought I would share a bit more information on a couple more books I picked up from the local library. Got them thru the interlibrary loan program. I wanted to read thru these before deciding if any were worth buying.
1. "Tool Steel Simplified" 4th edition: This was the first book I got from the library. Very interesting read on just what steel is and the types and how they are made. Not much practical how to do it heat treating. But you get a good grasp of what needs to happen. Good section on selecting the right steel for the right job using the "matched set" method.
2. "The Tool Steel Guide" by Jim Szumera: Nice little book that has a lot more practical how to information but it is a quick read. Worth getting from the library in my opinion but glad I didn't buy it. I actually was geting ready to order it on Amazon. Read all the reviews first. One reviewer mentioned they really liked the next book.
3. "Heat Treatment, Selection, and Application of Tool Steels" 2nd edition by William E. Bryson: This was the last one I got from the library because of the favorable reviews on Amazon. Glad I got it. Very good how to information in a cook book type format. Much more information in a usable format in my opinion. Good section on use of the heat treat furnace and common problems/mistakes. "Recipies" for some common tool steels. How to actually wrap parts and how to use the quench. He repeatedly stress the need to temper immediately as soon as the steel is cool enought to hold (just like Jim Szumera). Good section on selecting steel based on application. Similar to the "Tool Steel Simplified" matched set method. All the information is based on using a heat treat furnace of some kind. No home shop flame hardening techniques discussed. There is one chapter on cryogenic treatment that is very "cool". Couldn't help the pun. Seriously, good stuff. He shows you how to do it in a home setting with a few simple items.
Bottom line: Get them free from your local library like I did. I enjoyed reading them. I plan on buying a copy of the book by William Bryson.
I thought I would share a bit more information on a couple more books I picked up from the local library. Got them thru the interlibrary loan program. I wanted to read thru these before deciding if any were worth buying.
1. "Tool Steel Simplified" 4th edition: This was the first book I got from the library. Very interesting read on just what steel is and the types and how they are made. Not much practical how to do it heat treating. But you get a good grasp of what needs to happen. Good section on selecting the right steel for the right job using the "matched set" method.
2. "The Tool Steel Guide" by Jim Szumera: Nice little book that has a lot more practical how to information but it is a quick read. Worth getting from the library in my opinion but glad I didn't buy it. I actually was geting ready to order it on Amazon. Read all the reviews first. One reviewer mentioned they really liked the next book.
3. "Heat Treatment, Selection, and Application of Tool Steels" 2nd edition by William E. Bryson: This was the last one I got from the library because of the favorable reviews on Amazon. Glad I got it. Very good how to information in a cook book type format. Much more information in a usable format in my opinion. Good section on use of the heat treat furnace and common problems/mistakes. "Recipies" for some common tool steels. How to actually wrap parts and how to use the quench. He repeatedly stress the need to temper immediately as soon as the steel is cool enought to hold (just like Jim Szumera). Good section on selecting steel based on application. Similar to the "Tool Steel Simplified" matched set method. All the information is based on using a heat treat furnace of some kind. No home shop flame hardening techniques discussed. There is one chapter on cryogenic treatment that is very "cool". Couldn't help the pun. Seriously, good stuff. He shows you how to do it in a home setting with a few simple items.
Bottom line: Get them free from your local library like I did. I enjoyed reading them. I plan on buying a copy of the book by William Bryson.
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2012
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- 630
For the low tech methods with simple steels, The Complete Modern Blacksmith by Alexander Weygers is a really nice reference.
If you are going the cooking oil route, at least use something with a higher flash point like peanut oil.
One really cool thing I have seen for really small parts to heat treat was to put the small parts in a small dish of brass swarf to get a bit more control and heat more evenly.
If you are going the cooking oil route, at least use something with a higher flash point like peanut oil.
One really cool thing I have seen for really small parts to heat treat was to put the small parts in a small dish of brass swarf to get a bit more control and heat more evenly.
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