John Lucas & Others -Steel
Mark Mandell - Gone Round In Jersey
>John,
Ran into an certified "Old Timer" yesterday [looked at me slightly sideways due to "welder's blindspot"] and learned that to normalise the welded tool rests, all that's needed is to heat to bright red (or non-magnetic) from tip to tip and than let air cool. Oven soaking at temperature is not necessary.
Also told me that any welded O-1 should be normalised for both safety (fatigue cracking) and increased durability. Said the only time he'd "lime-cool" was to get some case hardening plus soften interior structure out of the deal. Did not recommend that course for lathe tool rest as thought would be more likely to result in surface cracking of the hardened "case" when the annealed interior would not hold the surface against vibration and sudden stress (like in a catch that I never get).
Thought you'd like to know. Let me know if you hear different from your smithy.
Note to Others: See "OT-Steel" thread below to understand what this is about.
Mark
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