Don't know how a suspension arm reacts to this, but I do know how iron and
steel react when heated to make knives. With relatively thin blades as
opposed to round stock you can be sure the thickness of the blade is evenly
heated. With a suspension arm, I'm not so sure you could get even heat
outside of a forge due to the thicker cross section. I'm almost sure that
heating it with a torch wouldn't let you do that. Especially if it's propane
instead of oxy-act. Knife makers judge when to quench by the color of the
metal as it cools. They know by experience when to quench it for the hardness
they want. And when they'd quench it and in what liquid (oil, water, liquid
nitrogen) depends on the composition of the metal and many other variables.
Do you know exactly what you have? You certainly wouldn't want the resultant
repair to be brittle which could easily happen. The wrong quench with the
metal at the wrong heat might make it as breakable as as a wooden dowel the
same diameter.
If you were talking about playing with the process for like the footrests of a
pogo stick, I'd say go ahead and do whatever you want. There's a learning
curve here. For something that could kill you if it fails, get one made by
people who do it for a living. There's no absolute guarantee there either,
but your chances are much better. The owner-restorer has to know the boundary
of his/her expertise. For this one, I don't know what I'm doing, so I
wouldn't do it. Safety is always first. You absolutely need to reliably
steer and stop; all else is gravy. If a suspension arm fails on a fast inside
curve, what's going to happen? Anything you'd like?
Just trying to be helpful and I'm sure it's been done and nothing horrible has
happened. Hell, I'd probably have done it 30 years ago. Not now.
Bill Moyer, BJ7
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