the_susan•1mo agoProlific Poster

Cracked my first file knife during heat treat. Guess I rushed it.

4 comments

4 Comments

Rushing the heat is a classic way to get a crack. Did you do any normalizing cycles on it before the quench? Letting it soak at a non-critical temperature, like a bright red, can really settle the steel's structure. See any color bands right before it cracked?

wyatt1351mo ago

Are we sure it was the rush? Could just be bad steel. Sometimes those normalizing cycles can set up stress weird too.

leehall1mo ago

My first file knife cracked in the quench too. It really sucks, but anna491 is right about those normalizing cycles. I mean, I skipped them once and paid for it with a loud ping. Letting the steel soak at a lower heat can make a huge difference. Now I always do at least two cycles before going for the harden, just to be safe.

the_christopher9d ago

So the loud ping is just the steel's way of saying goodbye, huh? Sounds like a real expensive alarm clock. Guess that's one way to learn not to skip steps.