Die Heat treating, when and how?

[63 Shiloh]

OK Fellers,

I have been playing about with some mild junk steel, practicing my swage die, D bits and punch making skills.

Now I have some real steel in my possession, 4140 and D 2.

So, I realise I need to HT these items, then anneal I imagine.

Is anyone able to post a step by step process for the heat treatment requirements and when you should do it?

Should the D bits and reamers be done first?

New to this stuff, so any advice appreciated.

Mike

[martin]

63 Shiloh,

D2 and 4140 are totally different steels and are heat treated differently.

You may want to advise which you will be using for dies/punches and which for the D reamers before your questions can be answered.

My suggestion on heat treating would be to do an internet search and look at a couple of different results then draw your own conclusions. From my understanding D2 is air quenched and 4140 is generally oil quenched and they require different temperatures in heat treating and annealing.

There are probably others in this forum that are knowledgable on this topic.

Martin

[BT Sniper]

I'm not necesserly knowledgable but I send all my 4140 dies in to be heat treated professionaly.

It is a flat rate so it doesn't justify small numbers but I have gotten results that I have been completly happy with.

Good shooting

BT

[7of7]

I'm not necesserly knowledgable but I send all my 4140 dies in to be heat treated professionaly.

It is a flat rate so it doesn't justify small numbers but I have gotten results that I have been completly happy with.

Good shooting

BT

Where do you send it to for this service?

[NoZombies]

BTW, just for informational purposes, some very simple and generalized definitions as these terms relate to steel:

Anneal = Making the steel as soft as possible for ease of machining, normally involves heating past critical and allowing a very slow cooling process.

Critical temp = In simplest terms, for simple steel, this would be heating until non-magnetic.

Heat treat = the complete process of taking the steel to where it needs to be for it's intended application.

Harden = To make steel hard, for simple steels this usually means heating to a given point, soaking at that temperature, and quenching in a specific way. Every single steel will be at least a little different, but some are similar enough to "fudge" at the same temps and times.

Temper = Done AFTER hardening, to reduce brittleness of steel, done by re-heating steel to a specific point and cooling. Also different for every steel, and every application.

Generally hardening and tempering are done in quick succession, and this combination is what is normally referred to as "heat treating".

[Red River Rick]

The 4140 will not make for a good cutting tool, go with the D2.

The upper critical temperature of D2 is approx 1850 - 1875 F. So, unless you have access to a furnace to heat the part evenly, doing so with a torch or other heat source will probably cause warpage.

Parts should be wrapped in SS foil to prevent oxidation and scaling. And, should be soaked (held at temp) for approx 10 minutes for each inch of maximum thickness.

Remove from furnace, quickly unwrap and let cool in still air (air cooled). Pretty simple if you know what your doing.

RRR

[Hammer]

For what this is worth, I found myself in your position a few months ago and decided to do what I love to do best and read about it.

The book I selected was "Heat Treatment, Selection and Application of Tool Steels" by a fellow named William E. Bryson.

It is a small book and not overly complex, but it really opened my eyes about what is required of the folks we select to do our heat treating and what we need to know and do if we try to do it for ourselves. And you will learn volumes about steel and processes....

Having spent hours reading it, rereading it and many other references, I think it is worth the effort to find a professional in the short term and not have to repeat hours of lathe and machine time if I fail to take a proper step at the right time. I am squarely with BT on this one! Running a lathe is one thing but outsourcing can be a good thing sometimes....

Just my humble opinion....

Hammer

[63 Shiloh]

Great info Gents. Thanks very much.

I will track that book down Hammer, nice explanation too No Zombies. Rick, I will be using my D 2 for cutting tools. Managed to find a place that will do all the heat treating required, just need to have a minimum order of $50.00.

Plan on using the 4140 for the dies and using D 2 for my D bits and reamers.

Good times ahead!

Mike