copper plate quench of .187 steel

About this project

Simulate plate quench of1/8in 01 tool steel using 1 inch copper plate. Note that simulation shows only half of the quench (one plate and .063 steel stock) to better see center line temperature (e.g. when the knife edge would be after grinding bevel). This simulation assumes no bevels are ground in the blade before quenching. Conclusion: Copper is crazy good for quench plates. Simulation suggests that in ideal conditions 3/16in steel can be easily quenched from 800 C to 400 C in 2 seconds (at the edges, not in the center) using 1in copper quench plates. This is easily fast enough for full edge hardness of most oil hardening tool steels (O1, etc) and fast enough to avoid pearlite in the cutting edge in faster steels like 52100 and 8760 . Might not be fast enough for water hardening steels (W1, 1095 )