AS556
Well-known member
Seems like it would be ideal for tools. Pliers, wrenches, sockets etc.
What gives? This treatment is widely used in many other industries.
What gives? This treatment is widely used in many other industries.
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Why so few tools with a nitride finish?
- Thread starter AS556
- Start date
DocsMachine
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2006
- Messages
- 1,867
Easy: One, because it's expensive. The cheap coating you see on Home-Depot drill bits and the like is literally like nanometers thick. It's basically just there for the color.
Doing a proper TiNitride job is expensive, considerably more so than nickel or chrome.
And two, TiNitride isn't rustproof. Steel can and will still rust through it.
Doc.
Doing a proper TiNitride job is expensive, considerably more so than nickel or chrome.
And two, TiNitride isn't rustproof. Steel can and will still rust through it.
Doc.
Easy: One, because it's expensive. The cheap coating you see on Home-Depot drill bits and the like is literally like nanometers thick. It's basically just there for the color.
Doing a proper TiNitride job is expensive, considerably more so than nickel or chrome.
And two, TiNitride isn't rustproof. Steel can and will still rust through it.
Doc.
I'm not talking about TiN I'm talking about SBN
https://www.ibccoatings.com/salt-bath-nitriding-ferritic-nitrocarburizing-dhn-dhfnc
eschoendorff
Well-known member
More difficult to clean and more difficult to see in dark areas than chrome.
seber
Well-known member
Salt bath nitriding is more expensive than plating. It is also a high temperature process. That means the base metal is softer due to tempering. In addition the surface of the metal is infused with nitrogen which embrittles the steel. Combine that with added flex due to high temperature tempering and you have a formula for failed tools.
bwringer
Well-known member
People like shiny.
This is not a hard question.
This is not a hard question.
Evilunclegrimace
Well-known member
Salt bath nitriding is more expensive than plating. It is also a high temperature process. That means the base metal is softer due to tempering. In addition the surface of the metal is infused with nitrogen which embrittles the steel. Combine that with added flex due to high temperature tempering and you have a formula for failed tools.
SBN/QPQ is performed at 750-1050 F. It has been used in the firearm industry for decades as an external coating to help with corrosion and to coat rifle barrels to help improve wear characteristics. Firearms, rifles in particular experience extreme pressure changes, some as high as 64,000 PSI that induce some flex and they do not fail due to "high temperature tempering."
Last edited:
seber
Well-known member
SBN/QPQ is performed at 750-1050 F. It has been used in the firearm industry for decades as an external coating to help with corrosion and to coat rifle barrels to help improve wear characteristics. Firearms, rifles in particular experience extreme pressure changes, some as high as 64,000 PSI that induce some flex and they do not fail due to "high temperature tempering."
Rifle barrels are made from 4140 steel. Tempering is done at very similar temperatures to salt bath nitriding. Very few tools are made with 4140.
Plenty of tools are made with 4140 or similar - what we call chrome moly. Channellock uses 1050? carbon steel which is far inferior. 500F and above certainly appears in heat treat tables and can change temper and can also dimensionally affect the finished product.
Nitride treatment is used to impart a very hard wear surface and wouldn’t be that great an option for many hand tools. Something like a pliers Joint would last very long with that treatment.
Correct
The point of the process is to make the outside very hard (brittle) but only the outer layer so the underlying metal maintains more tensile strength. Very useful for a rifle barrel or pistol slide.
Those properties may be interesting for a wrench but would create a QC nightmare trying to keep the broaching within tolerance. Ratchet handles and heads might be a possible candidate but it would increase expense and look worse than chrome plating.
MBfreak
MEMBER EMERITUS
Mercedes Benz Crankshafts i the straight six engines in the 50s to 70s were nitrided and then polished to final measurement.
If yo grind the shaft to ubderdimension 0,25 mm you wuill have to renitride it and then polish. Easy , any good machuíne shop in Europe knows how to do it.
The hydrogen brittleness is only a problem with steel of "spring" quality. And easy to alleviate. Heat the part to 200 C for 8 hours.
Ola
If yo grind the shaft to ubderdimension 0,25 mm you wuill have to renitride it and then polish. Easy , any good machuíne shop in Europe knows how to do it.
The hydrogen brittleness is only a problem with steel of "spring" quality. And easy to alleviate. Heat the part to 200 C for 8 hours.
Ola