Talked to a guy at a hammer-in who changed how I think about heat treating

Was at a hammer-in in Ohio last weekend. Old guy named Pete saw me eyeballing a blade I just quenched and said 'you're rushing it, the steel tells you when it's ready.' He showed me how he watches the decalescence points instead of just timing it. I always thought I had heat treat figured out after 4 years doing this. Now I'm second guessing my whole process. Anyone else have a random conversation that made you rethink a basic skill?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabethpalmer1mo ago

Ask him if he still uses a magnet or just eyeballs the color after the decalescence point. I've been doing this long enough to know that steel color lies more than my ex-wife, especially in different lighting. That whole "the steel tells you" thing sounds like something you hear from guys who've been doing it since before digital thermometers existed. Did he actually show you a before and after or was it more of a philosophical rant?

jana_hill271mo ago

Have you tried using a cheap laser thermometer instead of guessing? lol. I was in the same boat with an old timer who swore by color alone, but I started testing his method against a digital one and man, the color was off by like 50 degrees in bad light. Pretty funny how these guys think their eyes are better than tools we can get for $20 now. Once I showed him the numbers on a few pieces, he actually admitted the magnet trick still works for the real low temps but color is a total crapshoot.