WTK: What the He!! is Strawing?

[Wolfgang Pfeifer]

Hello crl,


Strawing is a process. It uses shades of yellow to indicate the Hardness/Temper ratio of steel parts. After carbon steel parts are hardened they are brittle as a result of sudden cooling in oil or water baths. In short, tempering (re-heating, 300-750 F range) relieves the stresses of the polished parts and makes them serviceable for their designed use and less likely to break. As the polished parts are heated, they change color. This applies to specific parts of Lugers.


Colors go from:

â??Very pale yellow 430 Fâ?� to

â??Light yellow 440 Fâ?� to

â??Pale straw-yellow 450Fâ?� to

â??Straw-yellow 460 Fâ?� to

â??Deep straw-yellow 470 Fâ?� and all the way through brown, purple blue at 640 F.


I share with you what I have learned.


Regards, Wolfgang