Reply To: Hardness of steel rod…

[willofiam]

Hey Tom, I am in the dark somewhat when it comes to this also, I have read and read technical data referring to this subject, either I am not smart enough to grasp it or it is very complicated, how to harden, what temp, how fast, how much carbon in the steel, physical properties, molecular compositions, cooling parameters on and on. I hope someone here with a simple explanation for clock and watch applications will comment. A recent book I acquired talks of making watch parts with oil hardened steel, of course I have seen “oil hardened” and “oil hardening” steel for sale, now is that the same thing or not??? cant figure it out. the book also mentioned L.S. Starret Company, Starrett No. 469 oil hardened, precision ground stock, saying that it is less difficult to harden with a low hardening range of 1400 – 1500 degrees. not sure if this comes in rods though. I had also read somewhere simply to check if the steel has carbon just touch it to a grinding wheel and you’ll get alot of sparks compared to very little sparking, (thats about all I know with limited brain space). thanks for bringing it up Tom, William