Guys,
I would really appreciate it if some of you guys could reply with some advice / pointers / facts based on something I'm planning to do soon. I'm sure there will be lots of members here with just the knowledge I am looking to learn from...
During the early part of my career I was led to believe many things as fact by the guys I trained under and college lecturers...., much of which I later found out was not entirely accurate to say the least ! So i re-learned a lot of things just from experience.
Here is what I am looking to know, sorry for so many questions....
1) As 'steel' is an alloy of iron & carbon, does this mean that all steels can be hardened simply because they have a carbon content ? or is it due to the iron content ?
2) Does the make-up (grade) of material depend on the method of hardening that would be used, or the final result your hoping to achieve ?
2b) I.e - can an off the shelf - very soft steel only ever achieve a maximum hardness no matter what hardening method ?
3) If I need to achieve a hardness of say 50 HRC on a machined part and to tolerance, if I machine the part to the required tolerance and ship out to a specialist company for hardening, would I need to allow for a finishing operation to bring to tolerance ?
3b) In general terms (I know it will depend hugely on the physical size / shape of components) how much would you expect to see a part change in dimension between machining stage and after hardening ?
4) How does the hardening process effect threaded holes ?
4b) in something for example, like the base of a modular vice (maybe Mr Sun of Orange vice company can chip in...?), if you tap some holes to really good tolerance and then carry out a hardening operation on the component - what is to be expected ?
maybe thats enough questions for now......
Thanks in advance for those that take the time,
TC
I would really appreciate it if some of you guys could reply with some advice / pointers / facts based on something I'm planning to do soon. I'm sure there will be lots of members here with just the knowledge I am looking to learn from...
During the early part of my career I was led to believe many things as fact by the guys I trained under and college lecturers...., much of which I later found out was not entirely accurate to say the least ! So i re-learned a lot of things just from experience.
Here is what I am looking to know, sorry for so many questions....
1) As 'steel' is an alloy of iron & carbon, does this mean that all steels can be hardened simply because they have a carbon content ? or is it due to the iron content ?
2) Does the make-up (grade) of material depend on the method of hardening that would be used, or the final result your hoping to achieve ?
2b) I.e - can an off the shelf - very soft steel only ever achieve a maximum hardness no matter what hardening method ?
3) If I need to achieve a hardness of say 50 HRC on a machined part and to tolerance, if I machine the part to the required tolerance and ship out to a specialist company for hardening, would I need to allow for a finishing operation to bring to tolerance ?
3b) In general terms (I know it will depend hugely on the physical size / shape of components) how much would you expect to see a part change in dimension between machining stage and after hardening ?
4) How does the hardening process effect threaded holes ?
4b) in something for example, like the base of a modular vice (maybe Mr Sun of Orange vice company can chip in...?), if you tap some holes to really good tolerance and then carry out a hardening operation on the component - what is to be expected ?
maybe thats enough questions for now......
Thanks in advance for those that take the time,
TC