Question on heat treating/tempering 5160

[happycat]

I am about ready to heat treat a blade I forged at the recent NY Hammer In. I am new to using 5160. I plan on heat treating in my forge and quenching in olive oil as I do with 1095. I was planning on tempering in my oven and am wondering about time and temp (as well as how many times to temper).
Any advice on heat treating and tempering would be appreciated. I am always looking to learn and improve the way I do this.
Thanks,
Ed

 

[Peter Atwood]

I'm not sure what the requirements are for this particular steel but I'm sure someone will chime in soon. Good to see you posting...it's been awhile since you've been here or on the Folder Forum!

 

[B . Buxton]

I assume you normalized the blade 3 times after forging to relieve any stress and help refine grain size. So with that being said this is how I would heat treat a blade from 5160, I don't know anything about your quench oil and believe me different oils do have different affects on knife steels. I use chevrons super quench and found it to do a great job on 5160, 52100, 1084 and L-6, Anyway I would preheat my quench oil to 130 -160 degrees then at critical heat, edge quench 3 times, about 30 seconds after the smoke and the bubbleing quits I will ease the whole blade into the quench oil and let cool, then reheat and quench again. after the 3rd quench, place in an oven set at 350 for 2 hrs, take out let it cool to the touch, sharpen and do a brass rod test, if blade rebounds good with no chips, leave temp at 350 and draw again for 2 more 2hr peroids. If blade chips raise the temp to 375 and draw, then brass rod test again, until I find the correct drawing temp.

Good luck and hope this helps

Bill