Thread: The best heat treatment for Suminagashi Steel

That looks pretty good. The etching came out very nice, and I like the pattern on the handle.

Thank you, Bruno! I am really happy with this steel. I got a very smooth edge.

Sorry I missed this post. Looks like you got some good advice and everything worked out great.
I've made around 75-80 razors out of that material and I would say 95-98% have been no problem at all.
Good looking Razor! Keep it up.

Thank you very much. I am glad to you like it.

"75-80 razors" - not bad.

Looking Great, can you get "Parks 50" quenching oil? I use it but it is harder to get every year.
The old deep fryer gets to pre-heat 130-170F. works great for a free fryer from the scrap yard.

Thanks! I used canola-oil. I preheated on my cooking plate in a NESQUIK chocolate powder box (made of steel).

Hello again!

Unfortunately I have problem with the heat treatment of suminagashi steel. I do not understand: sometimes work my process, sometimes not.
I do not get the smooth edge, just britle.

Can anyone use canola oil for quenching this steel? I think this is my problem. I am warm it up to 80C.
I tested quenching lukewarm water as well. But this is more risk, I know.

My hardening range: 780-810C, soaking time: 7-8mins, quenching time: 15-20sec, tempering range: 180-210C - 2x1h.

I cant measure the hardness I can rely on my experience so far.

Could someone recommend a good oil to use instead of canola? And I can get it from Europe...

Thank you for the private advices to Maxim and Mike!

I continue my tests....thanks in advance all the help!

Hi Gregg,

I using this one: Härteöl 5 Liter Kanister: Amazon.de: Baumarkt
But I dont think, the oil is the problem. Before this special hardening oil I used simple canola oil too and it also works. In my opinion the problem is the steel itself. Perhaps in the production process there will sometimes somthing wrong. Your hardening process looks ok for me. I would go a littel bit higher with the temperature (825 C) with a little bit less time (4-5 mins), but this could not be a great difference. Perhaps you overheat the steel a little bit before the hardening with grinding? Test a normalizing before the hardening. Go with the razor several times to approx. 725C and let it cool down moving it on the air. Perhaps its work.

Actuall I dont using the suminagashi anymore. The look is fine, but from the shaving performance for me there are better steels out there.

Hi,

thank you so much for the quick answer.
What speed has this oil what you use? Why did you change from canolia if it is worked for you?

"Perhaps you overheat the steel a little bit before the hardening with grinding? " - I think you are right. Nowadays I use a very speed grinding method with clamps. Sometimes the steel is colorised to blue and brown. I did not make normalizing because I am not forging. It can cause my problems, I think and I hope.

"Actuall I dont using the suminagashi anymore. The look is fine, but from the shaving performance for me there are better steels out there."
I agree, but the people like it.

Originally Posted by Buddel

Test a normalizing before the hardening. Go with the razor several times to approx. 725C and let it cool down moving it on the air. Perhaps its work.

How much time soaking: 4-5 mins?
Cooling down on the aire to room temperature or how many?

Thanks!