Hardening a form tool made from Gauge Plate

Yes I’ve done that with several things I’ve made from 01 and not had any problems.

I note that a few people don't temper after hardening. That might imply that tempering isn't necessary. But it could also mean that the hardening didn't work properly. In that case tempering will have little or no effect.

Andrew

Not sure about tha, this one for expmple held up OK for making these brass fittings

And with a bit of regrinding (not to the cutting edge)went on to cut a batch of steel decorative nuts, still has a sharp edge

If it were not hard I would have expected the steel hex to blunt it. I know the likes of Ramon seldom tempers his homemade cutters and he used to do a lot of hardening for a living though he does have a tub of whale oil to hand.

I do feel that the section of the part being hardened can have an effect, if you have machined the cutting edges then they will be thinner and pointed and will quench faster than the bulk of the part so you can get a harder edge with a less brittle body so the tool may not shatter but the edge could chip.

Edited By JasonB on 15/06/2019 13:37:38

And you think we wouldn’t notice?! In my case at least all the parts ended up glass hard as determined by a file just skidding over the surface. I’ve made trigger parts and scraper tips and they’ve all worked very well.

Nice Nuts Jason!

If you do it properly and oil quench it's a gentler process as well and more likely to leave the core a bit softer.

Neil

A couple of useful notes here:

**LINK**

https://www.westyorkssteel.com/files/gauge-plate-ground-flat-stock.pdf

**LINK**

http://www.m-machine-metals.co.uk/info_heatreatment.html

MichaelG.

Strange that the M-machine link says that bright rid is colder than cherry red, I would have said 500degC was cherry red and 8-900degC bright red.

Well spotted, Jason

... I wonder if it was a typo for 'black red'

MichaelG.