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Heard a guy at the scrap yard say he never tempers his leaf springs
I was picking up some steel in Tacoma last week and this older smith was telling his buddy he just quenches 5160 from old truck springs and calls it good. He said tempering is a waste of time for tools that get beat on. I've always done a two hour cycle at 400 degrees. Has anyone else run into this, or tested springs both ways?
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ryan_ellis1mo ago
My uncle used to make splitting mauls the same way, just a straight quench in old motor oil. They'd ring like a bell when you hit them but they never seemed to crack. Always made me nervous though, watching him use one that hard.
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valw361mo ago
That scrap yard guy's method is a classic example of the "good enough" school of thought. You see it everywhere, from the mechanic who fixes things with zip ties and a prayer to the cook who never measures anything. It works until the day it really doesn't. A maul might ring for years, but one weird cold hit could send a shard flying. The tempering cycle is cheap insurance against that bad day, in my opinion.
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