One temper cycle or two

[JPSWorks]

What do you all do for tempering your springs. It seems to be the norm to always do two tempering cycles for blades, which I currently do. However for a spring in a slip joint, or lock back folder I am only doing one cycle for two hours. I tried it twice this week for the first time on some aeb-l but I think the temp was just to high. Lowering it 150 degrees helped a lot after I re heat treated it. Then I only did one cycle.

Who here does only one, and who does it twice? Is it the same for high carbon steels and stainless?

John

 

[EdCaffreyMS]

Personally I do 3X, for a minimum of two hours each. The specs for AEB-L (wich is the same for 13C26) recommends a minimum of 2 two, hour tempering cycles.....that being said, as with anything in knifemaking, it's all about experimenting, and finding what works best for YOU, in YOUR shop.

 

[LRB]

I do 2 one hour tempers, quenching in water each temper. 01 steel.
For a definitive answer, you will need to test the two methods and see if you can find a difference, or advantage of one over the other. The now common double temper is intended to help reduce any RA, but as I understand it, not all steels necessarily benefit from a double temper. Years ago, nearly all makers would say 3 tempers, which has been proven to not provide enough benefit to be worth while.

 

[JPSWorks]

Personally I do 3X, for a minimum of two hours each. The specs for AEB-L (wich is the same for 13C26) recommends a minimum of 2 two, hour tempering cycles.....that being said, as with anything in knifemaking, it's all about experimenting, and finding what works best for YOU, in YOUR shop.

Thank you Ed. I will try for two and test as best as I can.

I do 2 one hour tempers, quenching in water each temper. 01 steel.
For a definitive answer, you will need to test the two methods and see if you can find a difference, or advantage of one over the other. The now common double temper is intended to help reduce any RA, but as I understand it, not all steels necessarily benefit from a double temper. Years ago, nearly all makers would say 3 tempers, which has been proven to not provide enough benefit to be worth while.

Thank you LRB.