So I have both of these steels bought from AKS. Interestingly both steels have the same recipe for heat treatment. For those who have done both can they be treated together?
Austenitize: Heat to 1,545°-1,615° and hold for 5 minutes. Quench in oil.
NJSB recipe is a good bit different
1,465-1,480 and a hold for 5-15 min
Why the big swing in temp?
I have a couple of kitchen , and hunter style knives to do.
Your recommendations whould be appropriated.
I cringe everytime I read those far too high numbers. The only reason to go this high is if the steel is carbon locked through extensive annealing, and that is why I recommended the normalization to NJSB... yeah that was me. When Aldo originally got the business going, my phone would often ring for help in sorting these things out and I remember the 52100 situation well, I don't hear from NJSB much these days, so I don't know where the numbers are from now.
These two steels, 52100 and 80CrV2, are not at all similar and should not even be in the same sentence when discussing a heat treating regimen. Industry recommends 1550°F because industry believes you would be making ball bearings, not knives. I have found the highest possible HRC numbers for 52100 with austenitizing temps less than 1500°F, when the steel is properly prepared with carbide refining normalizing and cycling. That being said... once again, industry thinks you will be making bearings so they heavily spheroidize the steel for free machining. With very large spheroidal carbides, which are rather stable, you will need to go to the higher temperatures, like 1550°F, to achieve proper solution, but you will also risk higher levels of retained austenite, which industry also deals with differently than we would in making knives.
80CrV2 is a different chemistry, and is close to an odd cross between L2 and 5160. With proper normalizing and refinements, something like 1525F° should work quite well, but the temperatures around 1475°F that work so well for the much higher carbon 52100 would not yield results that I would desire.
But 1600°F+ would cook either of these steels alive, and all I could ever do is scratch my head and walk away when I see these numbers thrown about on the internet.
