ar400 carbon steel

Joined
Oct 17, 2005
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i have a piece of ar400 carbon steel with a bnh of at least 395. which i belive in rockwell is 48. it has already been quenched and tempered. my question is what if anything needs to further be done to it? as far as tempering goes?
 
You don't really have to do any more heat treating to your steel, it's done. But be careful if you intend to grind it into a knife blade. Don't let it get hot or you'll lose what little bit of hardness you have. I mean you should be able to touch the blade without it hurting at any point. If you're going to use a file, on the other hand, just be prepared for a lot of work; hardened steel is difficult to cut.

AR-400 is meant to be used for bucket teeth and other hard-wearing parts on heavy earthmoving equipment. However, that 48 HRC hardness won't go far as a knife blade. (You probably already know this, but most knives are in the 55-62 HRC range.) Your edge won't hold for long so you'll be sharpening constantly. Just a warning.

-Allin
 
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