Heat Treat Recipes for Baker Forge Steels

The following instructions apply to both copper and bronze laminated steels as well.

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80crv2 Cores:

• Normalize at 1600F, 1500F, and 1400F letting cool to black between each cycle.

• Heat to 1550 F

• Hold for approx 10 mins for "knife blade thickness"

• Quench in warm quench oil (not Canola) 86 F-122F 

• Temper immediately for 2 hours, cool in water and temper for another 2 hours 

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52100 Cores:

• Normalize at 1600F, 1500F, and 1400F letting cool to black between each cycle.

• Heat to 1550F-1600F

• Hold for approx 5 mins

• Quench in warm quench oil (not Canola) 86 F-122F 

• Temper immediately for 2 hours, cool in water and temper for another 2 hours

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Damascus Cores (1084/15n20):

• Normalize at 1600F, 1500F, and 1400F letting cool to black between each cycle. 

• Heat to 1500 F

• No hold time required, just get the entire piece to this temperature

• Quench in warm quench oil (not Canola) 86 F-122F 

• Temper immediately for 2 hours, cool in water and temper for another 2 hours

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Hitachi Blue #2 Cores:

- Normalize at 1400F, 1300F, and 1250F letting cool to black between each cycle. 

- Heat to 1450F-1525F and quench in warm fast quench oil (Parks 50 or similar)

- Temper immediately for two two hour cycles. (320F-420F depending on desired hardness. 

Apex Ultra Cores:

- Follow instructions listed by Apex Ultra on the data sheet here. 

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NitroV Stainless Cores:

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Place blade in stainless foil with double folded edges

Pre heat oven to 1900 and let the oven equalize at temp for 20-30 minutes 

Load blade(s) into kiln and wait for oven to rebound to 1900F then 15 minute soak. 

Quench between two aluminum plates and use compressed air to cool down the blade. *critical step* 

Immediately snap temper the steel at 300F for 30-60 minute to relieve stress. (This step is critical to ensure the cladding and core do not tear themselves apart due to stress and different movement rates during the quench)

Following the snap temper go into dry ice or liquid nitrogen for 1 hour this step reduces Retained Austenite and gives full hardness for the core. (A freezer treatment will not be effective because of the snap temper)

After cold treatment complete two temper cycles. First temper cycle at 300F for 2 hours then second temper at 350F for two hours will yield 63Rc, adjust final temper to achieve desired hardness desired.

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AEBL Stainless Cores:

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Place blade in stainless foil with double folded edges

Pre heat oven to 1950 and let the oven equalize at temp for 20-30 minutes 

Load blade(s) into kiln and wait for oven to rebound to 1950F then 15 minute soak. 

Quench between two aluminum plates and use compressed air to cool down the blade. *critical step* 

Immediately snap temper the steel at 300F for 30-60 minute to relieve stress. (This step is critical to ensure the cladding and core do not tear themselves apart due to stress and different movement rates during the quench)

Following the snap temper go into dry ice or liquid nitrogen for 1 hour this step reduces Retained Austenite and gives full hardness for the core. (A freezer treatment will not be effective because of the snap temper)

After cold treatment complete two temper cycles. First temper cycle at 300F for 2 hours then second temper at 350F for two hours will yield 62Rc, adjust final temper to achieve desired hardness desired.

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​154CM (Baker Forge's Performance Stainless Damascus) :

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Preheat: Heat to 1,400 and equalize temperature.

Austenitize: It is critical to not exceed the maximum austenitize temperature. If you overshoot the maximum temperature by a small amount, toughness will go down dramatically.

Increase temperature to 1,900-2,000°F and hold for 30-60 minutes.

Quench: Plate, air or positive pressure quench.

Cryogenic Treating: A cryo treatment is recommended after quench. Cryogenic treatment must be followed by a temper.

While liquid nitrogen is preferred, a sub zero bath with dry ice and kerosene will suffice for -100°F /-74°C.

Submerge in sub-zero treatment 4 to 8 hours depending on thickness and number of blades.

**A cryogenic treatment can be done immediately done after quench, but it is recommended blades be clamped flat to avoid thermal shock induced warp--cryo treatment should always be followed by a tempering cycle.

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Temper: Two times at 400-1,200°F for 2 hours minimum each time. Cool to room temperature between tempers. Note: Tempering at 800-1,100°F results in a minor reduction in both corrosion resistance and toughness.

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Use the graph below to select your temperatures:

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* All heat treating should be performed in a dedicated HT oven that is specifically designed for this process