Quench in water vs oil, my leaf spring experiment went sideways

I hardened a leaf spring blank last Tuesday using plain water instead of my usual canola oil because I was out and figured what's the harm. It came out glass hard but then I dropped it from waist height onto the shop floor and it shattered into three pieces, no bending at all. I always thought water was just faster, but that brittle failure made me wonder if I've been missing something about how the steel's alloy responds to shock. Anyone else ever push a quench medium past what you'd normally use and get a result that made you question your whole heat treat setup?

0 comments

0 Comments

No comments yet

Be the first to share your thoughts on this discussion.