Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
G'day everyone,
I do a small amount of heat treatment here on the channel. Admittedly the heat treatment I do is a little more involved than simply heating metal to red and quenching it, it usually involves a carburizing process first, and maybe an extended soak to relieve stresses. However at the end of the day, it is still just heating up metal and cooling it.
The theory behind it however can be quite extensive and I think there is a lot of misinformation, or lack of information when it comes to some areas of heat treating steel. Things I see and hear quite often that I would like to address.
This includes the debate about whether to quench in oil vs water, harder steel equaling better quality and temper temperatures.
#heattreating
water vs oil quench for steel
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:48 - Quenching Steel In Water Is Bad. Quench In Oil
4:44 - Just Buy Soft HSS and Harden it
6:04 - You Always Need To Temper Parts To A Straw Color
8:08 - Harder Steel Is Better Quality
10:17 - Hardness = Wear Resistance
11:25 - Just because It Hardens, does Not Mean You Can harden It
14:03 - Harder Steels Are Stiffer
15:04 - Just Heat To Red And Quench
G'day everyone,
I do a small amount of heat treatment here on the channel. Admittedly the heat treatment I do is a little more involved than simply heating metal to red and quenching it, it usually involves a carburizing process first, and maybe an extended soak to relieve stresses. However at the end of the day, it is still just heating up metal and cooling it.
The theory behind it however can be quite extensive and I think there is a lot of misinformation, or lack of information when it comes to some areas of heat treating steel. Things I see and hear quite often that I would like to address.
This includes the debate about whether to quench in oil vs water, harder steel equaling better quality and temper temperatures.
#heattreating
water vs oil quench for steel
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
0:48 - Quenching Steel In Water Is Bad. Quench In Oil
4:44 - Just Buy Soft HSS and Harden it
6:04 - You Always Need To Temper Parts To A Straw Color
8:08 - Harder Steel Is Better Quality
10:17 - Hardness = Wear Resistance
11:25 - Just because It Hardens, does Not Mean You Can harden It
14:03 - Harder Steels Are Stiffer
15:04 - Just Heat To Red And Quench
