03-18-2013, 10:15 AM
Steve,
There is a bit of guesswork involved if you don't know how much carbon is in the steel, but basically you heat it to about 1400º F and hold it there for a while (a half hour should do for a part that size), then let it cool slowly (30ºF per hour) to room temp. I would put the jaws in a stainless envelope or an air tight box to keep the air off. Know anyone with a kiln?
Making them hard again might be a bigger challenge since you don't know the alloy. They are probably an oil hardening steel, so heating them back to that temp and oil quenching would probably work.
Tom
There is a bit of guesswork involved if you don't know how much carbon is in the steel, but basically you heat it to about 1400º F and hold it there for a while (a half hour should do for a part that size), then let it cool slowly (30ºF per hour) to room temp. I would put the jaws in a stainless envelope or an air tight box to keep the air off. Know anyone with a kiln?
Making them hard again might be a bigger challenge since you don't know the alloy. They are probably an oil hardening steel, so heating them back to that temp and oil quenching would probably work.
Tom
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