Need advice heating thin o1 tool steel

I have some thin o1 tool steel pieces. 1/32 thick and 2" long. So what advice for hardening and tempering on these parts.

Thanks

You can use stainless foil and charcoal granules to avoid oxidizing the surface, if that's important to you. Make a sealed package with the foil that has the steel and the granules inside; the charcoal will eat up most of the oxygen as you bring it up to heat in a kiln.. Unwrap and quench it in oil when it's red hot to harden it; the tempering process happens at a low heat (about 400F, depending on what you're going for) so the wrap isn't necessary for that part. Careful of the foil - the edges are very sharp...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by awerby

You can use stainless foil and charcoal granules to avoid oxidizing the surface, if that's important to you. Make a sealed package with the foil that has the steel and the granules inside; the charcoal will eat up most of the oxygen as you bring it up to heat in a kiln.. Unwrap and quench it in oil when it's red hot to harden it; the tempering process happens at a low heat (about 400F, depending on what you're going for) so the wrap isn't necessary for that part. Careful of the foil - the edges are very sharp...

---

I was going to build a forge out of firebrick and use a propane torch.
This is for some trigger components for a gun..

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

If you're talking about a regular propane torch that screws onto a hand-held bottle of gas, that would be marginal - it could work if your piece is small enough, but might not put out enough heat. One of those big "weed burner" torches fed by a BBQ tank would work, though. People also power their forges with home-made burners like this: https://ronreil.abana.org/design1.shtml

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by awerby

If you're talking about a regular propane torch that screws onto a hand-held bottle of gas, that would be marginal - it could work if your piece is small enough, but might not put out enough heat. One of those big "weed burner" torches fed by a BBQ tank would work, though. People also power their forges with home-made burners like this: https://ronreil.abana.org/design1.shtml

---

What about MAP torch

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

MAP gas is hotter than regular propane, but not by much. It could work (eventually) for small pieces like you describe, but it will always be a limiting factor. Use insulating firebrick, not the hard kind, and try to enclose the area holding the work as much as possible.

its very good

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by awerby

MAP gas is hotter than regular propane, but not by much. It could work (eventually) for small pieces like you describe, but it will always be a limiting factor. Use insulating firebrick, not Sarkari Result Pnr Status 192.168.1.1 the hard kind, and try to enclose the area holding the work as much as possible.

---

Unwrap and quench it in oil when it's red hot to harden it; the tempering process happens at a low heat (about 400F, depending on what you're going for) so the wrap isn't necessary for that part. Careful of the foil - the edges are very sharp...