uwrapping ss foil necessary for air quench on A2?

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KNIFE MAKER
Is unwrapping the blade necessary to heat treat? The reason I ask is you can find a lot of different info on speed of quench for A2 tool steel. Anywhere from blasting it with air to just letting it cool on it's own.

If I just pulled it from the furnace and put it between cooling plates in a vise without taking off the foil what kind of results would I get?

Thanks.
 
The procedure you described will work fine. There is no need to remove the foil or blast with air. As an air hardening steel it will do just that (harden in still air). The plates just speed the process and help control warpage.
 
You don't have to remove the heat treat foil if plate quenching.
 
That is good to know....I tried to take it off on that first blade and it was an exercise in futility because it kind of shrink wraps a bit....
 
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