Doug (PA24)
Thanks for the complements Sir,
Looks like you’ve been doing this for far longer that I, always willing to exchange ideas.
When I first started doing CCH, I built all kinds of fixtures out of stainless steel to tame warpage, one of the thing I found though, is that it’s probably not necessary; here’s my thoughts:
When you quench the part, you’ve got over 1000 deg temp change in a split second. The metal will move. Too many times I’ve removed a block/fixture only to watch the part “spring” once the fixture is removed. I also think that HEAVY blocking may actually increase warpage due to retained heat.
One of the great properties of true case hardening is that the core is still soft, meaning that the part is still quite “tweakable” , and is easily bent.
I stopped using blocking for the most part (still block receiver rails & the barrel holes in receivers). Blocking now is mostly to enhance colors.
If Color Case hardening is done correctly: reasonable temps, clean water with no additives (Salt) warpage should be minimal and easily fixed if it does occur.
Thoughts?
Mike
