What is the difference between Annealing and normalizing?
Blacksmithing is both a science and an art. It requires the mastering of certain terms and treatment of metals by the use of heat. Normalizing and annealing are some of the popular heat treatment methods used by blacksmiths.
The article provides detailed insights into the difference between annealing and normalizing with a comparison table for easier understanding. The comparison video help to highlight some finer details not present in the discussion.
What Is Annealing?
Annealing is a technique of heat treatment of metal to make them ductile and less hard. The heat treatment generally alters the physical and chemical properties of the metal. The main aim of heat treatment is making metals easy to be molded when blacksmithing.
However, the process tends to take a lot of time to happen since heating reduces the amount of energy trapped inside the metal before bringing it into a stable position when cooling. It happens through the dislocation of the atoms.
What Is Normalizing?
Normalizing is a heat treatment technique that tends to happen on alloys of iron to help achieve uniform grain size. The metal is heated to a temperature above the critical point and cool it slowly in the air.
Cooling the heated metal in air help to attain the required grain size uniformly throughout the alloy. However, it results in less ductile metals and this is the reason why the method is not that popular in blacksmithing.
Comparison Chart: Annealing Vs Normalizing
| Basic Terms | Annealing | Normalizing |
| Meaning | It is a heat treatment method used to make metal ductile and less hard | It is a heat treatment technique only applicable to alloys of iron |
| Cooling Process | Either in air or quenching in water | Only in air |
| Grain Size | Not easy to attain uniform grain size | Quite easy to attain uniform grain size |
| The hardness of the final product | Ductile and less hard | Tend to remain harder |
| Cost | Too expensive | Comparatively affordable |
| Purpose | To refine the crystalline structure and remove residual stresses | To get a refined grain structure before hardening. |
Core Difference Between Normalizing and Annealing
- Annealing is a heat treatment method used to make metal ductile and less hard whereas normalizing is a heat treatment method only applies to an alloy of iron
- The cooling process of annealing can either be in air or quenching in the water while that of normalizing is only in the air
- The grain size of normalizing is uniform unlike that of annealing
- The cost of the annealing process is more expensive than that of normalizing
- The final result of the annealing method is ductile and less hard metal while that of normalizing tend to remain harder
- The core function of annealing is to refine the crystalline structure and remove residual stresses while normalizing is to get a refined grain structure before hardening
Read More: Differences Between Silicates and Non-Silicates
Comparison Video
Summary
The core difference between annealing and normalizing is that annealing is a heat treatment method used to make the metal less hard and ductile while normalizing is a technique used mainly on iron alloys. The cost of these two heat treatment methods tends to vary.