I made a test blade from CPM154, and my heat treat recipe is to pre heat to 1400, hold for 20 min. and heat to 1950, and hold for 50 min. then plate quench, with a fan blowing across the plates, when cool enough to handle, temper at 425 for 2 hours, air cool then repeat at 425 for 2 hrs. The blade is 1/8" thick at the spine, and full flat ground to .025 at the edge pre HT. I don't have a way to check RC, but with the brass rod test, she seems a little on the soft side, as the edge will roll slightly, and stay there instead of flexing back. According to the Crucible data sheet, with my time and temps, it should be 58-60RC. but they do show an oil quench. My question is, was my quench to slow, due to no contact on the bevel? And if it was, how can the problem be eliminated? I have no problems with 440C, A2, or D2 so I can't figure this out. In cutting dry hard oak the test blade holds up well, the edge didn't roll and she is still sharp, and I got prety rough with it shaving big thick pieces off of the oak, but the brass rod sure rolled the edge. Any thoughts will be appreciated.
Dale
Dale