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Steel metallurgy A little theory is essential to understand what we do. If not, how to evaluate successes or analyze failures? Here first of all some information on steel: > Bases about steel . > The standard classification of steels. > Steels used for cutlery. Then some theoretical concepts: > Steel microstructure . > The essential phase diagram . > The diagrams with time factor. And the essential part about heat treating: > General information . > Then in detail: Annealing, Normalization, Hardening, Tempering. > A review of quenching mediums . And to help reading of these pages: > Steel metallurgy glossary . Some more advanced but fundamental technical aspects for cutlery: > Steel grain . > Carbon diffusion . Specific applications: > Manual case hardening . > Case hardening with clay .