Customer Reviews

Heat Treatment, Selection, and Application of Tool Steels

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Anyone who enjoys metalworking and is searching for introductory information on heat treating will find this book is a thing of beauty. To quote the preface, "This is not a book about metallurgy, but a book that describes in simple terms what happens to metal during heat treatment!" Right from the start ("Chapter 1. What is Steel" and "Chapter 2. Exactly What is Heat Treatment Doing?") the author explains step-by-step how to treat the major classes and most common alloys of tool steel. If you want to know the how and why of hardening, tempering and annealing at a level that will allow you to really do it yourself, look no further.

The book decodes the naming conventions, explains the differences between air, water and oil steels, offers insight into the effects of various alloys and provides full recipes for hardening, quenching and tempering the most used steels. He goes on to discuss the effects of subsequent operations such as grinding, welding and EDM. The back is filled with tables with data for all the steels you're ever likely to use.

I had tried a few project prior to finding this book with mixed results, mostly because it's impossible to tell "straw" from "pale amber" with going through an old-fashioned apprenticeship. This book offers exact instructions, temperatures, soak schedules and tips that produce excellent results.

On finding the link to recommend this book to a friend, I was shocked to find that it had such a low reader rating (3/5 stars). Of the six other reviews here, three are the arrogant sarcasm of people who have so much free time that they read about other people's vacations. Regarding the fourth, if you are as well versed in 16th century texts on metallurgy as in the "cutting edge" of technology, then this book is not for you either.

I bought this book about a year ago in order to understand the heat treating process of common tool steels. It is a well written set of "recipes" for the hobby and home shop machinist. It is not a canonical text on metallurgy.
So far I have used it to heat treat several projects that I used A2 (air hardening) tool steel in. I found the directions easy to follow and got the desired results without any mistakes.
As always, one should follow the manufacturers recommendations for a particular steel. The manufacturer specifies the "what". This book specifies the "how" (and some of the "why".)
I highly recommend this book.
-David Utidjian-

I am always surprized at the lack of information about the metal heat treating field. This book is definitely included in this. Although many of the processing techniques are good, some make me cringe and want to run for cover. The metallurgical information is remaniscent of Biringuccio or Agricola, both written in the 1500's. If you have enough metallurgical knowledge to know what is correct and what processing techniques are good, then you don't need this book. If you don't have enough knowledge to decipher this, then it is unreliable. On a lighter note, the other sections, not dealing with heat treating, seem good.

A wonderful book for the beginner. Held my attention quite well. Very informative, lots more information than I had anticipated.

I don't know much about heat treatment myself, but if this Bill Bryson doesn't then he sure has me fooled. Following the step-by-step instructions in this book has got to be WAY better than guesswork with a torch and a pail of water, no matter what some snobs might think. The instructions appear detailed and probably more cautious and meticulous than I would actually be in practice. If anybody has better info than this, they ought to stop alluding mysteriously and write their own book to let us all in on the secret.

The only "fault" with the book I can see is it is a bit redundant for bedtime reading material, being organized for practical work.

This is an entirely different Bill Bryson from the guy who writes travel/history books. Don't let the joking, stupid, and/or over-puffed reviews here deter you from doing heat treatment a whole lot better than you are probably doing it now.

I was disappointed at the limited information and focus of this book. I should have bought something else but didn't know until after I got it.

Limited steel coverage
I was interested in learning more about heat treating 1095 steel as a home blacksmith hobbiest. This book mainly covers the letter tool steels like A2, D2, W1, and O1. It does not cover any of the plain carbon steels like 1045 or 1095 directly. A W1 steel is covered that is somewhat similar to 1095 but has different amounts of carbon, silicon, and manganese and so is really not the same but the heat treatment is probably similar.

Only oven hardening and tempering information is given
So if you want to find out how to anneal steel it is not in this book. Annealing is mentioned a number of times but he must assume that you know the method because it is not given. Also, no other possible heat treat things are covered like Normalizing. I would have been interested to know if Normalizing is beneficial but it is not even mentioned. Right after college I worked in a tool and die shop as a drafter and everything he is saying is directed to that profession.

You have to have a heat treat oven to use this book.
All of the methods given in this book are based on using an accurate heat treat oven with temperature sensors. So if you are using older black smith methods and don't plan to get an expensive oven then this book is not for you.

After reading Bill Bryson's other works I was keen to read this. Although very well written and informative, it is not such an easy read as, shall we say, The Lost Continent; more a Walk Through a Sticky Gue than a Walk in the Woods. Many of Mr Bryson's earlier works tend towards the academic. His "Mother Tongue" is a valuable resource for all linguists and it is good to see that he is still capable of writing a useful book that is not merely entertaining.

The sections on metal turning and milling are especially good as is the chapter on gas nitriding systems. I haven't had such a laugh about carborundum since the days of Monty Python. I wish he had included more amusing anecdotes as in his other books, but the subject is not quite so suitable.

If you have read and enjoyed other Bryson's other books then I would certainly recommend this one. It may be a little technical, but nobody could accuse it of being shallow. Bill Bryson has proved he is much more than a travelogue writer with this unfortunately titled book. Perhaps it should be called "Steel Tools and How They Get that Way."

I agree with Julian, while this particular book may be a bit more technical than his others, it is certainly worth the money and belongs on every Bryson fan's shelf. The insights into metal are as plentiful as the humor - especially when the author dives into the always hilarious topics of carburization and TTT diagrams. Side splitting! I never knew that working with metals could be so entertaining but I guess I should expect that from Bryson. He can make any topic a joy.

While the book provides a wide range of knowledge - I'm sure this will become the standard for manuals on grinding which I think is the books strongest section. It is also the section the allows Bryson to really exercise his comedic genuis even if some of the humor may be lost on the casual fan.

My only complaint is that this gem isn't available on audio-cassette but I'm sure that Random House will fix that soon. I would love to hear these words from Bill's own mouth especially when he talks about getting the most out of a furnace!

Also make sure to look for Bill's book "Cryogenics" which I think he was working on while still living in England - it, too, is a joy to read - especially the highly entertaining section on liquid nitrogen! The section on Stress in Materials was also top notch - almost as humorous as his observations about the women of Iowa in earlier books. Keep up the good work Bill!

If you are looking for all the books Bryson has written, look up his official web site or at random house publication's web site.