Subject: Heat treating D2

From: Scott Hardy <[email-masked]>
Date: 11 May 1995 08:02:56 GMT

I just forged my first blade from D2 and was wondering what the best way   
to heat treat the thing would be. 
 
I usually use W2 or O1 and heat treat them myself because it is pretty   
easy, via magnetics, to tell when they are at the right heat.  Is there   
any way to tell that about D2?  Or should I just give up and send it to   
Mr. Bos? 
 
BTW forging this stuff was much easier than I thought it would be. 
 
Thanks. 
 
--  
S. Hardy 
Knives, Photography, Mainfraim. 
And all around nice guy

---

From: "Peter J. O'Leary" <[email-masked]>
Date: 13 May 1995 19:02:47 GMT

>to heat treat the thing would be. 
 
I haven't any experience making knives but I have worked withe D2 for many   
years.  In the past, I had it heat treated commercially.  Now we have a   
commercial quality heat treating furnace so we do our smaller pieces   
in-house.  Wrap it in stainless steel foil and roll the seams as airtight   
as possible.  Throw a tooth-pick in the bag to consume the oxygen.  Heat   
the pack to 2200 deg.F and hold at this temp. for several minutes. Quench   
in air.  Test hardness and draw at 800 to 950 deg.F depending on how ypu   
hardening comes out.  It's recommended to do a second draw at about 700   
deg.F to increase toughness.    

>any way to tell that about D2?  Or should I just give up and send it to    
 
You can get temperature indicating crayons, pellets, or cones from an   
industrial supply.  I recommend the cones. They come in increments of 50   
deg.F and they melt when the desired temperature is reached. 
  
>BTW forging this stuff was much easier than I thought it would be.  
   
Yeah, but wait till you grind and finish it.  The high chrome content makes   
it pretty rough to finish, but also makes it keep an edge.  Try to finish   
it to near net size before heat treat, both to remove any surface   
decarburization from forging and to reduce to the amount of stock that has   
to be removed after hardening.  Good luck. 
 
Peter J. O'Leary 
 
Tool & Die Maker