Recent content by Kevin R. Cashen

Sure, the first 300 or so times I had the discussion, but the interest eventually faded for me. ;)

Wow. It is incredible how the more things change, the more they stay exactly the same. This thread could have been cut and pasted from any number of discussions from 2000, 1995 or even before, and with identical talking points. Except, and I will give you folks this, so far you are much nicer...

Hmm, reading this makes me wonder how subjective "before my time" really is, and how long some of us have been around. I realize how hard it is for any of us to face how old we are, but I remember my first Blade show (visiting) in 1993, and my first table in 1995. I remember the usual suspects...

I had no idea there were so few seasoned old school smiths visiting here. I have been waiting to see if there were any other folks with an opinion on the use of anthricitic, rather than bituminous, fuels in forging steel. Curious, and eye opening. Oh well, carry on...:)

I am afraid that my philosophical digression isn’t really helping answer the initial questions that are the topic of this thread. These are just some questions that have been in my mind for some time, that were probably misplaced here, sorry about that. To help with the initial topic I will...

To be honest I have some soul searching occurring here. After 30+ years of observing what makes a well respected maker I am not sure what puts me there. As a habit, our craftsman community seems to be bound to a one step forward, two steps back, approach that no amount of effort, or time, will...

Just curious, could anybody expand, in detail, why they follow a specific tempering regimen? Not what they heard somebody else say*, but what is the underlying reasoning is behind the prescribed method? I only ask because tempering has become a topic that is often a source of head scratching...

Umm, no, that really won't work in the way you may be thinking. Differential quenches/hardening are the result of the formation of pearlite at the spine and martensite at the edge. In this case, the softer phase (pearlite) is the most stable phase possible in an iron-carbon system. D-2 cannot...

There are just enough substitutional Cr atoms in D2 to retard corrosion but not quite enough to make it fully "stainless." But there is enough distortion of the lattice to resist the martensitic transformation enough to make retained austenite problematic. Slowing the cooling at all beyond what...

Same error for me, and I was hoping to have a look since I have done extensive metallography on old Japanese swords myself, wanted to compare some notes.

Thank you John!!!

Thanks for the kind words Doug. Was it the Heat Treating video produced by the ABS?

For the guys who feel they have been doing it "wrong"- probably not, just doing it differently. Carbon, and simple alloy, steels are very forgiving, so unless you burnt the steel, blew the grain size or failed to harden, and the knife cuts and holds an edge, you are probably good. Over the...

Normalizing: HOT! generally about 100°F higher than hardening heats. Purpose- to homogenize the internal structure of the steel, mostly carbide distribution. Normalized steel does not have to be softer, it just has to be uniform inside. Thermal Cycling: ?? any temperature the knifemaker...

An extra .5 to 1 point HRC at the top end of the range of an alloyed steel from water would be the result of added strain during the direct conductive cooling phase of the quench, strain above and beyond that which is required for the continued martensitic transformation that is occurring in...