When I grind/sharpen my lawn mower blade with my electric grinder am I ruining 
it.

Michael E. Esh


On Sep 6, 2011, at 4:25 PM, G Mann <[email protected]> wrote:

> Color change in heated metal is strongly influenced by metal composition.
> More of one component or another in the makeup of steel [a compound
> substance] gives different "color points" at different temperatures, thus
> without controlled conditions with known materials most of what's being
> offered in this thread is pretty baseless.
> 
> Temper, hardness and other strength factors are also influenced by quench
> time, coolant temperature, and other factors. All which need be tightly
> controlled.
> 
> Sorry to rain on your individual parade. No disrespect intended.
> 
> 
> On Tue, Sep 6, 2011 at 12:58 PM, Fmiser <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
>>> Max Dillon wrote:
>> 
>>> My friend the machinist tells me that to affect the temper,
>>> the metal needs to be heated until the color is correct
>>> (glowing red or hotter/lighter), then quickly cooled. I think
>>> 400 degrees is not hot enough.
>> 
>> By the time it just begins to glow is is _way_ past tempering.
>> 
>> Temper is a decreasing of the hardening.
>> 
>> 400 deg F can effect a hard-tempered steel.  Often 350
>> deg F is considered the maximum safe temperature to avoid
>> affecting temper.
>> 
>> To fully harden, heat the metal to glowing red, then quench
>> (cool very quickly .  This is often too hard and so must be
>> tempered.
>> 
>> To temper, remove the scale and oxide so there is shiny metal.
>> Then heat and watch for surface color - NOT glowing color.  When
>> the color is reached, quench.
>> 
>> The first color is often called "straw" - a pale tan or yellow.
>> This is the least tempered, or the most hard.
>> 
>> The last color is blue.  This is the most tempered, or the least
>> hard.  At this point the hardness is nearly entirely gone.
>> 
>> Here's a website with colors and temperatures.  Keeping in mind
>> that the actual temperature can vary depending on the steel
>> alloy.
>> http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/tempering-colors-steel-d_1530.html
>> 
>> --   Philip
>> 
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