Why soaking is important?

theWeatherman

Well-Known Member
I would like to discuss why soaking specific steels is important in the HT'ing process ( O-1, 1095, etc ).

Lets hear why and the reasons for the times.
 
From what I understand it is to allow the elements (mainly carbon in O1 & 1095) to get into solution so they can be fully utilized in the quench. As far as time, again from what I understand, alloys with more elements and larger amounts of them take longer for everything to go into solution. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.
 
Darrin has it. All steels benefit from a soak, but the simple steels need only a short time because carbon goes into solution relatively fast. Chrome, tungsten, vanadium all take take longer to solutionize and evenly disperse. With 1095, a ten minute soak at 1475° is plenty. With 01, using an oven, I like to go at least 20 minutes at that heat. In part to allow the thermocouple time to level off and give the 01 about 15 minutes or so of even heat. Since I do 3 blades at a time, the last blade may get as much as 30 minutes, but time is not nearly as critical as temp in either steel. It has been proven that 01 can sit at that temp for a few hours with no adverse effect, but I would recommend some form of decarb and scale protection. I coat my 01 with ATP anti scale and get excellent results.
 
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