Loading…
-1
Question about tempering colors, I think most of us are reading them wrong on purpose
Tbh I used to chase that straw yellow on every chisel and punch like it was a finish line, and last month a guy named Russ at a hammer-in out in Kalispell set me straight on why that is backwards for a lot of tools. He pointed out that the color you see is on the surface, and the surface heats and cools faster than the core in a thick piece, so a 1/2 inch punch can show straw while the middle is still softer or harder than you think. He had me take two punches from the same bar of 4140, temper one by eye and one in a toaster oven at 425 for an hour, then dress both and whack them on a scrap brake rotor. The eyeballed one chipped at the edge after maybe 15 hits, the oven one just flattened a hair and kept going. What got me is that everyone in my shop treats color as gospel because it is fast and looks cool, and it works fine on thin stock where the heat evens out quick. On anything past about 3/8 inch though, I think we are mostly guessing and calling it skill. Does anyone here hold their temper in an oven or a sand bath for the bigger stuff, or am I overthinking this?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
kaib1817h ago
Toaster oven for anything over 3/8 inch, every time, color is just a rough guess at best.
1