Ice Runners

Rcsailing.net Land Yachts
1

Since we will soon have some decent ice conditions again, I started making a new set of runners. Actually the steel blanks had been cut out over a year ago on a friend’s CNC milling machine, so the current project involved heat treating them for hardness. Believe it or not, hard cold ice will soon dull the edge on ordinary mild steel.

Heat treating involves raising the temperature high enough so the crystaline structure of the steel actually changes. Part of the process is rapid cooling by quenching in water, oil or salt. The problem of warpage arises with the quenching, so I chose grade A2 tool steel which can be quenched in air, resulting in little or no deformation.

My first set of runners had been flame hardened with an oxy-acetylyne torch (MAPP gas wasn’t hot enough), but that’s a pretty uncontrolled process. I had bought a small electric kiln, & wired up a thermocouple & controller so I could accurately set the temperatures. The protocal for this steel called for preheating to 1450F/785C, raising to 1800F/982C for 10 minutes & then air quenching down to 125F.

Since hardened steel is also much more brittle, it’s necessary to temper it to improve toughness. This is done by reheating the part to 500F/260C for 2 hours. After final cooling, the layer of residue can be cleaned off & final shaping/sharpening done. The whole experience was a challenge to learn about & pull off successfully, but was fun to do. I realize this is far removed from the world of “softwater” sailboats, but I thought a few of you might be interested.

Regards,
Bill

2

tanks Bill
I learned something more even I will never profit of
Claudio

3

I thought a few of you might like to see some pix of heat treating steel for hardness.
1)untreated iceboat runners- grade A2 air hardening tool steel
2)kiln with controller
3)runners in kiln- will become bright red hot later
4)closeup of controller. This is deg C, about 1400 deg F

After this, the temp goes up to 1800F & then air cools to 125F, then is tempered at 500F for 2 hours.

4

What temperature air do you use to cool?

Also, since the parts are steel, will they rust?

thx

5

those blades look like stainless, no rusting if it is good stainless :slight_smile:

6

The recommendation for air cooling is simply room temperature down to about 125F, immediately followed by tempering.

Tool steel is not stainless, so yes, they will rust if not dried & oiled after every use. Most types of stainless steel are not hardenable because there is not enough carbon content, the exception being type 440c. That is not to say that SS is not strong (as in “toughness”), but hardness is an entirely different quality.

Below are the cooled parts after tempering. Note the discoloration & the flaked off surface layers.

7

very cool. I stand corrected :slight_smile: