Hello,
I tried a little experiment with my AS. I was trying to harden some
20 gauge wire. I shaped some into earrings and some I just cut at
various lengths to shape afterward. I put them all on a firebrick and
enclosed it into a pyrex container. I heated them in my oven but my
oven only goes to 450 degrees so I heated them for almost 2 hours.
Other than discoloration, there was no perceptible difference in the
temper. I was hoping to get it much harder but my oven probably does
not get hot enough - so my experiment for my goal did not work.
However, Hoover and Strong has told me that they will sell the work
at whatever temper you ask for, meaning, they have to draw it through
a die. I am wondering would that destroy the germanium layer, in
which case you have to then heat it again, destroying the hardening?
It’s like a Catch-22!
Grace