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Hi all, I've got some questions about normalizing before a quench. In "The Complete Bladesmith", Jim Hrisoulas cautions against leaving steel for too long above critical temperature when quenching, and against quenching multiple times, because the metal is subject to rapid grain growth above that point. I've seen other sources talk about normalizing the steel before the final quench (often repeatedly) to relieve stress and refine the grain. As I understand it, normalizing (a basic 10XX carbon steel) involves heating the steel above the critical point and then letting it air cool. How does one grow the grain and the other shrink the grain? Does normalizing need to happen at a lower temperature? Or is the grain size determined by the rate of cooling?
