Heat treating thin A2 parts

I need to make a small lot of thin parts out of A2 tool steel (1/16" thick x 3/4" wide x 4" long)and have them heat treated to full hard. The parts have minimal machining on them (cut to length, 4 small countersunk holes, and a small section machined out on one end to create a fork like feature).

I'd like to minimize any warping of the parts. Can thin A2 parts be clamped together in a stack and heat treated in a vacuum furnace or will they "sinter" together (not sure what the actual term is)? I'd call the heat treater, but they are closed on Fridays.

Does anyone here have experience with clamping parts for heat treating or have any pointers? If I stack the parts, should the countersunk sides be stacked opposite each other? Recommended size and material for the clamping plates?

Any help is appreciated.

They won't sinter, but you will want to be certain to clean the parts thoroughly to ensure no carbon contaminants (oil) are left that could change the properties where they contact the parts. There's no harm in having the countersinks fully butting, except the time to stack them that way.

You will want to use as thin a plate as possible for the outside clamps, as you want to minimize extra mass during heat treat, both for energy costs and heating/cooling thermal profiles. Talk to your HT guy about what's the best final arrangement, you may want to limit each stack to 20-40 pieces or less. For material, stress relieved low carbon steel should be fine, but you may have to reface the plates every few runs if they start bowing.

I always let the heat-treaters do what they do. Specify harden to xx-xx Rc, straighten within .005 or whatever. They have their own methods and secrets.

It sounds like the parts get screwed down anyway, why not let the screws pull it flat?