hardening mild for gas check molds

I recently read someone asking for a "brine recipe" for hardening mild ie 1018 or a36.
we call it superquench in the smithing world
heres the recipe

4.5 (ish) gal of water
1 lb bag of salt
1 reg sized bottle of Dawn dish soap
1 lil bottle of jet dry
mix em all up.
i recommend the salt first
the principle behind this stuff is as follows
the salt raises the boiling point
the dishsoap cuts down on cavitation and water jacketing
the jet dry breaks surface tension down a tad
great stuff, but get a lid, it can be messy

I don't get it, is this for hardening gas check maker? How does it work?

My son in law says 1018 or A36 is steel designations. Guess this is for hardening mild steel to make a mold? Or as dima said to make a check maker? Reddog give us a clue.

1018 and A36 are types of mild steel. 1018 is a designation for a mild steel of specific chemistry. A36 is a specification for certain properties, without any specifically required chemistry. 1018 is more predictable than A36, as A36 chemistry can be all over the place as long as it's physical properties meet certain minimum requirements.

"Superquench" has been around for a while, but the recipe has changed over time, I remember when it called for Shaklee Basic as the surfactant of choice... The idea is to quench a low carbon steel quickly enough to allow the little bit of carbon it contains to actually impart some hardness to the alloy. I would be wary of using superquench on something like a gas check making die, as I never had good luck with dimensional stability when using it. At the very least, i would make everything undersize, and do the final ream and polish after the 'quench'.

Good luck.

"hardening mild for gas check molds"

As already asked... is this for hardening gas check maker parts or...? Why would anyone want to harden a mould?

I am working on one now but I am confused myself. don't know much about these subject but wouldn't mild steel hold up for hundreds of thousands gc with out being harden or is there something else out there I that have not ran into while doing weeks of research.

My check makers are mild steel. The only thing I heat treated was the disk punch for the simple version. Everything else is just mild steel. Should last for some time before wear becomes an issue. I'd guess many thousands of checks will be made before I have to remake the check maker.

Longbow