PetrifiedWood
Well-Known Member
Lets talk a little about going from the quench to the temper-
How fast do you need to temper ? At least long enough for the blade to cool to room temp first. (Probably 10-15 minutes minimum) In certain circumstances with certain steels and certain quench mediums then there is the risk of the blade cracking between the quench and temper. ESPECIALLY when using water or brine as a quenchant and to a lesser degree fast oil like parks 50.
O1 or A2 you shouldn't need to worry about and there's never a need to rush.
The purpose of the low temp kitchen oven temper is just a stress relief not to reach your target hardness. The kitchen ovens readout is a setting only and not the actual temp. inside, Heating a large volume of air like that is prone to large temp. swings also. Checking our kitchen oven with an oven thermometer revealed it's much hotter than the setting.
There's more to it than that but it's at least a summary to help you understand.
Metallurgy is a DEEP subject and there's ALOT to learn
Having Doug Lester in the conversation is is a bonus for you ! He's very knowledgable about metallurgy and could offer a far clearer explanation than me.
-Josh
Hmm...
So tempering can't be done in a conventional oven? I might be in trouble then!