My source says 1040's as-quenched hardness is 52HRC. I don't think either 1040 or 1095 would through-harden reliably (I don't know if that is important to USMech6).
Does anyone know where to buy non-toxic carburizing salts? Every once in a while I'll start searching online, but it isn't helpful that I don't even know what the chemical formula of the substance is. I'm not talking about Kasenit or Cherry Red products, but a salt that can be melted into a...
4140 and 4340 don't have quite enough carbon to get to 60HRC - I think after a low-temperature temper, you can expect 50-53, maybe 55. I've never seen 4150 alloy in anything other than oversize rounds.
Is chrome plating normally applied to a steel that is that hard?
What does "bloom and creep" mean? I don't think that the salts used in black-oxiding are similar to the salts that I use. Neither of the salt mixtures that I mentioned in my post are horribly toxic - you ingest them daily in the food you eat (although I would not recommend eating these). Lead...
I've been meaning to respond to this for a while. I dabble in austempering as a hobby. I get my salts from this guy:
http://www.hightemptools.com/salts.html
He has both a high-temperature chloride mixture with a working temperature of 1,300-1,650F, and a low temperature nitrate/nitrite...
