Ok who knows how to case harden at home?

[repoman1984]

I have a few small mild steel parts (1018) about the size of a bottlecap and smaller that need to be heat treated. Maybe I'm dreaming here but can this be done with a gas stove and some charcoal?

[AC Gould]

You might want to try Kasenit...

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=119479

[Twinspool]

No. Get an acetylene torch. You will need to get the steel glowing hot. And charcoal is not what you want, you're after sodium ferrocyanide, trade name Kasenit.

[shooting4life]

Sounds interesting, if anyone has tried this can they please post some pics up.

[bridgeport]

I have done quite a bit of case hardening over the years both the traditional way and using kasenite. You do not need an oxy acetylene rig. A propane or map gas torch will work fine for small part casehardening.

[command_liner]

I have a few small mild steel parts (1018) about the size of a bottlecap and smaller that need to be heat treated. Maybe I'm dreaming here but can this be done with a gas stove and some charcoal?

Heat treating is not the same as case hardening. With patience and
practice you can do case hardening at home.

Case hardening with traditional carbon coatings for low-carbon steel
is a carbon migration process in low-oxygen atmosphere. It was done
in sealed clay pots using bone meal, charcoal, leather, tallow or
all of those. You need half a day at high heat for these.

The visual result from traditional work is interesting. You smash that
glowing clay pot full of charcoal and metal into a barrel of water.
You get a HARD surface with a mottled look, but because the steel
is low carbon, the inside is still unhardened.

Today we can use Kasenite and stainless steel tool wrap and do the
same thing quicker. You can mix the two and use tool wrap to keep
the oxygen away, but use bone meal, fat and leather for carbon
sources. For heat oxy-propane works, as does oxy-map or oxy-
propylene, or oxy-acet, but remember you need to keep a carburizing
flame! Or just use a bag of charcoal briquettes and a leaf blower.

For heat treating of O-1, I use a gallon of olive oil, then reheat to 350
in my kitchen oven.

[repoman1984]

K, well I have a good propane torch handy, is there anything that works like kasenit I could substitute? Burying the parts in charcoal while red hot maybe?

[bridgeport]

You do not need to wrap parts in foil to use kasenite. When you heat the part to the correct temp and dip it into the kasenite, the kasenite becomes kind of liquid and covers the part imparting the carbon whilst it protects the surface from oxidation. You then plunge the part directly into water and it "pops" the
kasenite off, after which you can lightly wire brush off the residual. PM if if you would like and I can give you detailed instructions on how to do this.
FYI... this is best done outdoors or with good ventilation, as the heated kasenite gives off smoke and fumes. All that is needed is the kasenite, a tub of water to quench in and a good heat source. The trick, if you could call it that, is to get the metal to the correct temperature to accept the carbon from the kasenite, and that is not too difficult with a bit of knowledgeable help.

[AJAX22]

I've done small parts on my parents range stove (they had a wolf that was pretty beefy)

I used sugar for the carbon.

worked just fine.

[command_liner]

K, well I have a good propane torch handy, is there anything that works like kasenit I could substitute? Burying the parts in charcoal while red hot maybe?

The old-time standard is 1 hour of orange heat for each 0.001" of case
thickness. This assumes direct contact with the carbon and a low
oxygen atmosphere. Your approach seems like it will not work.

[repoman1984]

I've done small parts on my parents range stove (they had a wolf that was pretty beefy)

I used sugar for the carbon.

worked just fine.

can you tell me more about this process?

[AJAX22]

can you tell me more about this process?

Well, (no guarantees I was doing it right)

But I used a process described in the book "the great escape" to harden the jaws of makeshift wire cutters.

I held the part that needed hardening in a pair of needle nose pliers and heated it up at the tip of the blue flame until it was bright orange, then I'd plunge it into a bowl of sugar... (which would caramelize and smell great)

The caramelized sugar completely coats the part, and I'd put it back into the flame and keep it at a dull orange for a random amount of time until I felt like it was good

I'd repeat the sugar dipping process periodically to keep fresh carbon on the metal.

seemed to work very well .

[bridgeport]

To harden in charcoal and such, you must bury the parts in a sealed box of charcoal and then place the whole box
into a forge or furnace, and bring the whole box up to heat to do its work.
Command liner is right, that this process takes hours to accomplish satisfactorily.

[tunder]

There is a way to harden mild steel that involves a simple quench solution.
You must first realize that the ultimate hardness depends on the percentage of carbon in the steel.This super quench is good for steel up to 1050.

http://lametalsmiths.org/news/robb_gunter.htm

Robb Gunter's "Super Quench"
5 gal water
5 lb Salt
32 oz Dawn (blue) dishwashing liquid (28 oz if it says "concentrated" on the label)
8oz Shaklee Basic I* or 7oz UNSCENTED Jet-Dry or other surfactant (like Simple Green) of appropriate quantity for 5 gal mix (wetting agents)

[bridgeport]

Burning in oil only works for higher carbon steels, 1060 thru say..1095.
True 1018 will not respond to the super quench, as it only works on metal that has enough carbon in it to respond to heat treatment, which is the case with some modern hot rolled steels due to the mix of metals which are re-melted and combined to make modern structural mild steel. The OP asked about surface hardening 1018 though, and for this, Kasenite is the way to go.