Lexic.us

Definition of Tempering

1. Noun. Hardening something by heat treatment.

Definition of Tempering

1. n. The process of giving the requisite degree of hardness or softness to a substance, as iron and steel; especially, the process of giving to steel the degree of hardness required for various purposes, consisting usually in first plunging the article, when heated to redness, in cold water or other liquid, to give an excess of hardness, and then reheating it gradually until the hardness is reduced or drawn down to the degree required, as indicated by the color produced on a polished portion, or by the burning of oil.

Definition of Tempering

1. Verb. (present participle of temper) ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Tempering

1. temper [v] - See also: temper

Medical Definition of Tempering

1. The process of giving the requisite degree of hardness or softness to a substance, as iron and steel; especially, the process of giving to steel the degree of hardness required for various purposes, consisting usually in first plunging the article, when heated to redness, in cold water or other liquid, to give an excess of hardness, and then reheating it gradually until the hardness is reduced or drawn down to the degree required, as indicated by the colour produced on a polished portion, or by the burning of oil. Tempering colour, the shade of colour that indicates the degree of temper in tempering steel, as pale straw yellow for lancets, razors, and tools for metal; dark straw yellow for penknives, screw taps, etc.; brown yellow for axes, chisels, and plane irons; yellow tinged with purple for table knives and shears; purple for swords and watch springs; blue for springs and saws; and very pale blue tinged with green, too soft for steel instruments. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Tempering

Literary usage of Tempering

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Metallography and Heat Treatment of Iron and Steel by Albert Sauveur (1918)
"Time at tempering Temperature. — It is the common belief that once the desired temperature is obtained, as indicated by the color, little is to be gained by ..."

2. The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel by James McIntyre Camp, Charles Blaine Francis (1920)
"Seeing that the tempering action often takes place very rapidly and that a ... I Influence of Time in tempering: From what has been said about the ..."

3. The Making, Shaping and Treating of Steel by James McIntyre Camp, Charles Blaine Francis (1920)
"Seeing that the tempering action often takes place very rapidly and that a difference ... Influence of Time in tempering: From what has been said about the ..."

4. Machine Tool Operation by Henry D. Burghardt (1919)
"Hints on tempering.—Machine shop tools will give good results if tempered about as follows: Color Tools Pale Yellow Cutting tools for Lathe, Planer, Shaper. ..."

5. Materials of Construction by Harry E. Pulver (1922)
"The heat treatment of steel by hardening, tempering, and annealing greatly ... tempering of Steel.—As some hardened steels are too brittle to use, ..."

6. Steel and Its Heat Treatment by Denison Kingsley Bullens (1916)
"CHAPTER V tempering AND TOUGHENING tempering tempering.—When a piece of carbon tool steel is heated to a red heat and quenched in water (ie, hardened), ..."

7. The Metallography of Iron and Steel by Albert Sauveur (1912)
"The tempering of steel has been compared to the releasing of a spring permitting a certain structural rearrangement, that is, a certain tempering of the ..."

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