Dear ABS, Hi Im Aaron from Bokeelia Florida. I would like to know if anyone will share the hardening and tempering information for w2 tool steel. I have been working with 5160 for about a yr and am going to give w2 tool steel a try. Im going to be making Brute de-forge knives. I have read that the steel needs to be soaked at a temp for a period of time prior to the quench. I made my forge out of an old break drum and add air with a hair dryer. It works great but I fear that it will melt the blades if I keep it in the forge that long. Also, can I temper w2 tool steel in my oven like I do with the 5160? Any comments of help is greatly appreciated. Respectfully, Aaron Kentros.
Aaron,
Soaking a piece of steel requires you to control the heat at or near a particular temperature for the allotted soak time. So time AND temperature complete the equation. The more particular the steel is, the tighter the tolerance of perhaps both time and temperature required to achieve your goal. W2 is a fine steel but I have to recommend you stick with the 5160 for the type of forge you are using. It makes good blades too and is also a forgiving steel, to a point.
If you are concerned that you will melt your blades, you need to slow down your air to the forge. Give it more time rather than blast it with extreme heat. Lower the heat and watch the color. If you are not sure how to control the heat, I recommend you get with someone who has similar equipment as you and that gets satisfactory results and stick with them like glue. Better yet, take the introductory class in forging offered by the ABS. This will give you a better understanding of the process of forging and heat treating. Then no matter the source of heat or your choice of steel, you are likely to get better results.
Hello Aaron. W2 does require good heat control, either with a heat treat kiln or a well regulated forge. A soak time gets most of the carbides into solution and allows the steel to reach full hardeness. A lot depends also on your quenchant. The quenchant you use for 5160 is probably not fast enough for W2, unless you are using canola oil. I use parks50 for W2. Like Lin I think it is good to concentrate on one steel and learn to get the most out of that steel before moving on to another. Let me guess, you want to try hamons. I would suggest 1075 for that, especially the 1075 from Aldo Bruno. If you already have some W2, keep in mind the temp control, the quenchant, canola oil at 120 degrees will work, the soak time, I use five minutes, also I will say to stay away from brine or water as a quenchant unless you are very familiar with quenching in them. Good chance for nasty pinging noises.
Best of luck
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
I have a similar setup in one of my forges, if you want to control the heat I would suggest building a regulator in the twier. I use charcoal in that particular one and it is built much like the Tim Lively one. To slow down the air I just put little duct tape strips across the front of the blower nozzle, that may help with the burning up of the steel. I haven't worked anything other than 5160 in that particular forge but that is how I slowed it down.
