Annealing E52100 steel ?

[jcfx]

I've been attempting a rebuild of one of those ball and socket jointed soldering helping hands
contraptions, the ball ends aren't what you would call a ball more door knob shaped
and what I'm doing is annealing ball bearings so that I can drill and silver solder new
rods into the balls to get true ball end.

I'm having a heck of a time annealing E52100 steel balls, the balls are about 5/16"in diameter
and heating them with a MAPP torch to red /yellow and holding them at that color for about 2 min
all I get is a soft surface, I can drill into them about 1/32 before it stops drilling and the HSS bit need resharpening.

Is E52100 steel annealable <sic?> at all ?

[Steggy]

I've been attempting a rebuild of one of those ball and socket jointed soldering helping hands
contraptions, the ball ends aren't what you would call a ball more door knob shaped
and what I'm doing is annealing ball bearings so that I can drill and silver solder new
rods into the balls to get true ball end.

I'm having a heck of a time annealing E52100 steel balls, the balls are about 5/16"in diameter
and heating them with a MAPP torch to red /yellow and holding them at that color for about 2 min
all I get is a soft surface, I can drill into them about 1/32 before it stops drilling and the HSS bit need resharpening.

Is E52100 steel annealable <sic?> at all ?

Depending on the source of the balls, they are likely induction-hardened, which produces a pretty tough core, although not as hard as the case. You should be able to drawn down the core hardness to some extent by soaking the balls at around 1500°F for at least one-half hour and then very slowly cooling them. Even then, drilling them will be tough, as the E-type bearing steels are naturally hard, even in the annealed state.

[armscor 1]

Yes I have tried and gave up, way too hard in the core.
Need an oven.

[jcfx]

Yep, without a heat treat oven I think those E52100 balls go in the parts archive bin.
Reordered some low carbon steel balls and they annealed and drilled great.

Anyone need some 5/16" dia. Low Carbon Steel balls ?
I have 242 left !

[whateg0]

Anyone need some 5/16" dia. Low Carbon Steel balls ?
I have 242 left !

Funny how that works! I order hardware like that all the time. $5 for 3 or $6 for 1000. Well, I might someday need more than 3, so sure. Actually I just ordered some metric snap rings from Grainger because there's no shipping charge when I pick them up. I didn't think about McMaster until after I ordered. Same price but it would've been 100 instead of 5 of them. Oh well, I hope I don't lose 4 more of them.

Dave

[jcfx]

I miss the old hardware stores, they used to be plentiful but they've gone the way of the Dodo,
what's left are staffed with paycheck collectors and space fillers that give you the deer in the headlight looks
when you ask for a 6-32 socket head cap screw.

220 balls left ! Trade anyone 10 balls for 10 - 4mm socket head screws x 12mm ( 1/2" plus or minus) !