Took me 10 years to realize I was quenching too early

I used to always dunk my blade as soon as it hit non-magnetic, thinking that was the magic moment. Then last year at a hammer-in over in Eugene, an old timer watched me and said 'you're rushing the soak, son.' He showed me how leaving it in the forge an extra 30 seconds made a huge difference in hardness. Has anyone else had a basic habit they just never questioned for way too long?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_fisher411mo ago

I read this thing from the Knife Steel Nerds blog that tested quench timing on 1084, and it matched up with what your old timer said. They found that letting the steel soak at temperature for a good 60 to 90 seconds after it went non-magnetic gave way more consistent hardness. I used to pull mine out the second it lost magnetism too, thinking that was the secret. But after reading that, I started timing it with a stopwatch and my blades came out way harder on the file test. It's crazy how a tiny extra wait changes everything.

skylerg171mo ago

You're absolutely right about the timing thing. I had the same experience where I thought the non-magnetic point was the magic moment, but it actually just means the steel is still climbing to where it needs to be. That soak time lets the carbides fully dissolve into solution, which is what gives you that real hardness. Once I started waiting a full minute after magnetism disappeared, my edge retention got noticeably better on my hunting knives. It goes against what a lot of beginners hear, but that extra wait is probably the single biggest improvement you can make to your heat treat.