Metallurgy of Steel for Bladesmiths- Dr. Verhoeven

[me2]

So that's part of what it won't do. What it will do is allow one to estimate the temperature needed to get the phases desired, the relative amounts of those phases, and the approximate composition of the phases. Even though the binary equilibrium phase diagrams are simpler than what is used, they are still very useful as a starting point, and as a starting point for understanding ternary phase diagrams. I don't anymore, so won't go into those.

So, with the binary diagram for iron and carbon, one can choose a temperature for a steel like 1095 to get the phases desired for the hardening temperature. For a steel like 1065, a temperature can be chosen to remove undesired phases.