Recipe for Kasenit

[Ian B]

I came across this on Yahoo Answers:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...6203219AA5DQbx

Anyone know if this is correct, or know a better recipe?

Thanks,

Ian

[mechanicalmagic]

Well, according to the MSDS on Kasenit's web site that recipe is not the same. Kasenit lists the main ingredient as Sodium Ferrocyanide, Na4 Fe(CN)6.

Now, I have no idea if the recipe given will do the job better, or not at all.

Kasenit is only $10 a pound here, lasts a long time for a home shop.
Dave

[ptjw7uk]

I thought that the main problem with case hardening is keeping oxygen away from the material while it is cooking in the compound so the packing in a box and sealing it are more important than the actual ingrediants.
Peter

[Evan]

Kasenite is straight sodium ferrocyanide. It produces a carbo-nitride case. Sodium ferrocyanide is available as a food grade additive used as an anti caking agent in table salt but you would probably have to buy a 40 kilo bag if you can find a supplier. It goes by the name yellow prussiate of soda so as not to scare people.

The Yahoo answer is mostly bunk as it takes a lot longer to harden something by merely exposing it to charcoal or other organic carbon containing substances. It must be done in an oxygen free atmosphere to prevent oxidation of the steel.

The current price of Sodium Ferrocyanide is about $900 per metric tonne or about 41 cents per pound FOB China, minimum order two tonnes.

[miker]

Maybe I could get this outfit to arrange a couple of Tons for me!

http://livenews.com.au/Articles/2008...n_cocaine_haul

Rgds

[chengdave2003]

Just out of curiosity, does case hardening add any size to the part being hardened?

Dave Young

[dalee100]

Hi,

No it won't change a parts size. But depending on the case harden method used, it can and will warp the be-jeezus out of parts.

dalee

[mochinist]

Yeah it will change the parts size, usually not a noticeable amount unless you are working to tenths thoughs. Holes will be smaller, I usually tap parts that are going to be case hardened with an oversize tap.

[chengdave2003]

Thanks for the info. I had bought a can of Kasenit, but haven't used it yet....

Dave

[Peter S]

FYI, the toolroom I worked in did its own heat treating - the case hardening was done in an electric furnace, using various sized lidded boxes (made from a special stainless that didn't corrode at high temperature). There was no special atmosphere required, but the parts were invariably ground all over after heat treatment. The parts were put in the boxes and packed with a type of small chip. I guess they were carbon-rich and obtainable from whoever supplies heat treaters. There are other ways of casing as well - I have seen gas atmosphere furnaces and also there are salt baths. I guess Kasenit is a home-handy man type of method?

BTW, we used steel recommended for case hardening, e.g. I recall Balfour SD 16 and SD 51, or Atlas Impacto or Super Impacto (8620). With these alloy steels you can get a hard case and a very strong core as well, but a few steps are required in the process. Other times we used nitriding for when distortion was a problem, and parts went directly from heat treatment into use.