Stop quenching 5160 in water, I cracked two blades in my shop in Gary before an old timer set me straight

Ben Cooper · 2026-09-29T18:35:04.587019+00:00

I picked up a bunch of 5160 flat bar from a spring shop outside Gary, Indiana, about 6 months ago and figured water was fine since that's what I saw in a video. First blade came out of the quench with a crack you could hear, second one snapped clean in half right at the tang. I was ready to blame the steel until a guy named Ray at a hammer-in told me to try warm oil instead, around 130 degrees, and to normalize the bar three times before I even touched it. The difference was night and day. Same steel, same forge, same heat, but the oil quench gave me a blade that survived a full bend test past 90 degrees without a single tick. Water pulls heat out way too fast for something like 5160, so the outside shrinks before the inside catches up and the whole thing tears itself apart. If you're new to spring steel, check your quench speed before you blame your forge or your heat treat. Anyone else got a horror story from a water quench that taught them the hard way?

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Stop quenching 5160 in water, I cracked two blades in my shop in Gary before an old timer set me straight | Blacksmiths - HW Forums