1060 heat treat help

[Simeon B 0]

I'm new to the forum and blade smithing. I've read that railroad tracks and railroad clips are more or less the same as 1060. I have a good bit of both, but I can't find anything on how to heat treat 1060. I.e. How hot to get the blade, Water or oil quench and how hot to get it. What temp to temper it at. Thanks

[Alan Longmire 2,634]

https://www.bladesmithsforum.com/index.php?/topic/33224-an-examination-of-rail-road-anchors-1060/

 

[Philip West 6]

That stuff is not regular 1060 it has a decent amount of alloy and hates water. It's actually 60Si2MnA

http://www.316l-stianless.com/Spring-steel/A11603-60Si2MnA.html

Edited March 26, 2017 by Philip West

[Alan Longmire 2,634]

Nice link, Phillip, thanks!  It's very close to 9260 as well.  Very tough stuff.  

[Philip West 6]

Welcome, we have access to a lot of RR steel through a friend who owns a scrap yard. A few family members who work for the RR and they let me know what publications to look in to find stuff like this. That is some very tough steel

[Philip West 6]

Alan, I also wanted to add something. We all know what welding 5160 to itself is like with all that chromium. This steel only has a trace amount and it welds to itself just fine. We have made a bunch of bag axes out of it in the traditional bow tie method. just bend a small piece of the steel over itself for the bit instead of adding one and weld it up..makes a tough as nails axe..In fact the first time we ever made a axe with one is when I found out how much this steel hates water I felt the "PING" all the way to my teeth, cracked half the blade off right at the level it went into the water..Thats when I started digging.. This little axe was made from one..

Edited March 27, 2017 by Philip West

[StevenRS 1]

RR steel was actually the first steel I ever worked with. In fact, I started blacksmithing simply because I had a bunch of it lying around and wanted to make stuff out of it . It's a bear to break down into usable chucks, but once you do, it's wonderful for anything that needs toughness. I treat it like an oil hardening version of 1075. A long time ago, me and my dad used a leaf blower and a bonfire to heat up a 3 foot section to red heat and drug it through a shallow pond with a chain and a tractor. After, you could score it with an angle grinder and snap off pieces with a sledge hammer, wedge, and bad language. Sure beat grinding on it all day though!