That week in March when every heat treat went sideways

I had three days straight last March where nothing would harden right. First batch of 1095 came out soft as butter, then the second one cracked right down the middle of a knife blade I'd spent 4 hours on. Turns out my thermocouple was reading 150 degrees off, and I'd been soaking at like 1375 instead of 1525. Found out by accident when I borrowed a buddy's digital gauge from his shop in Dayton. Has anyone else had a mystery batch go bad and later realized it was the gear, not the steel?

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charlie_ellis2d ago

Man, that's brutal. I read something once about a guy who blamed his steel supplier for weeks before he figured out his kiln was the liar. It's wild how we trust the gear until it stabs us in the back. That 150 degree miss is huge, but it's sneaky because the color still looks kinda right if you're not paying close attention. I've had a buddy swear his oil was contaminated, turned out his thermostat probe was just sitting loose in the tube. Good on you for catching it, even if it cost you a blade and a few days of pure frustration.