Thread: Surface Hardening

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Most crankshafts come form the factory with nitrided journals. Nitriding hardens the outer most .020" of the journal. When you have a crank turned .020" under, it is likely that you removed all of the wear resistant hardened material. So, what are your opinions on using a chemical hardener like Kasenit to surface harden the jounals to improve crankshaft/bearing life.

Your information on the hardening is incorrect. Most are hardened in a bath of Nitrate salts. The hardening only happens to the surface .002-.004". Not .020".

This was only done on the Hi-performance stuff.

Any homebuild hardening would be difficult to get a good even hard surface. Any uneven heating/cooling will result in warping. The problem that the factories had. Then the crank has to be straightened. Not a job for a novice.

definately not a good idea.... i've had enough trouble trying to carbonize my own pushrods to save a coupla bucks on buying hardened pushrods... that was a dumb idea....

Well, of course you're going to have problems with your pushrods if you're trying to "carbonize" them. I think you meant carburize.

yes yes carburize.... sorry.... slow..... brain