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I'm tempted to try hardening a spare watch case by heating with a blow torch, quenching then tempering. Also it would be nice to have a blued watch case if this could be achieved by this process. Am I mad? Is this possible with the typical steels used in watch case construction? Is the case likely to be completely ruined by distortion etc?
Find out for yourself mate. If you don't try, you will never know the outcome.
Depends on the steels composition. I suspect all you will do is warp the case.
"316L stainless steel does not harden in response to heat treatments"
https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=2382
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Definitely a crazy idea.
It won’t do it as far as I know, plain carbon tool steel is easy enough but a plain stainless like 316L I doubt would respond at all,
I have blued a orient mako case in my heat treat oven though, looks cool not sure how durable it would be as it’s only on the very surface really
And water or oil quenching it would more than likely deform the tight tolerance of a watch case,
This is something that crossed my mind a while ago and I belive I had seen it done, I've tried to search for it again but unfortunately couldn't find it.
It's a long time since I did anything metallurgical but I think it will be possible as stainless will change colour when heat is applied (think stainless exhausts and weld lines). I wouldn't know how specific grades of stainless will react. I'm pretty sure titanium can be blued too.
Plenty of precision pieces need to be heat treated as a final treatment as any further machining would further change the properties so the case might not warp too much. The key would be to bring the temperature up gradually and evenly to reduce the risk of warping. A blow torch may not be the best tool. Maybe modifying a bed of brass filings, as used for hands and screws might be a good place to start.
I would definitely by a cheap case to practice on. Good luck and have fun trying.
Madness... :)
Heat treating mystery metal is unlikely to end well, although cosmetic blueing may be possible.
WRT warping it’s not so much the heating but the quench and differential cooling that set up the stresses that would cause a warp.
It’s also possible that a case is made from pot metal or brass and will just melt.
Take photos and let us know.
Dave
I think the overall consensus is that I am actually bonkers, and it's probably true. Even more so because I've never done anything like this before. I've played around with a few simple Seiko mods, and I was thinking of using a spare skx case as the guinea pig. I might leave it for the moment then.
As a fellow Man of Kent I agree with you. Heat treating is as much an art as it is a science and without knowing exactly what steel you are working with you are pissing in the wind so to speak.
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Remember there is little to distinguish between madness and genius.
Alternatively there is chemical bluing but I know even less about that than heat bluing so have no idea if it is possible.
Tapatapatapatapatalk
You could probably colour it without risking the distortion problems of a quench hardening.
here’s a handy colour guide to help you choose the correct temperature...
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...cksmithing.JPG
Try it with a blank first
z
Quote:
Originally Posted by zelig
Bear in mind this is for carbon steel, stainless you’ll likely have to go hotter
Personally I wouldn't try it. And I have a kiln and regularly heat treat stainless and carbon steels. Sounds like a definite recipe for disaster I'm afraid.
300 series is classed as austenitic you'll need to Kolsterize.
To harden a basic steel with little carbon content you would need some case hardening powder like Kasenit, essentially you heat the steel a bit brighter than cheery red and drop it in and cover with the Kasenit powder until cool, reheat again to cheery red and quench in water, it is now very hard but brittle, now clean up the steel and depending on use reheat to a straw colour to give back some toughness as like I said it will be brittle. I done this process many moons ago while an apprentice.
Chances of all the components fitting after are unlikely plus the material properties have changed so it will probably corrode in some way.
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Any distortion could be controlled by tack welding internal steel bracings inside the case. Quenching in oil is the way forward.Quote:
Originally Posted by Man of Kent
However, Your warranty may be invalidated.
LOL
Isn’t this a surface process so the underlying steel shouldn’t be brittle?Quote:
Originally Posted by murkeywaters
If talking about a watch case then yes that is correct for thicker areas but any thin sections will be fully hardened and very brittle, also areas like case back threads will probably be messed up due to the heat and Kasenit process.
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