The residual stresses on the surfaces of low carbon 12Cr steels used as a nuclear steam turbine blade material have been studied by controlling the flame hardening surface treatments. The temperature cycles on the surfaces of 12Cr steel were controlled precisely as a function of both the surface temperature and cooling rate. The final residual stress state generated by flame hardening was dominated by two opposite competitive contributions; one is tensile stress due to phase transformation and the other is compressive stress due to thermal contraction on cooling. The optimum processing temperatures required for the desirable residual stress and hardness were in the range of $850^{circ}C$ to $960^{circ}C$ on the basis of the specification of GE power engineering. It was also observed that the high residual tensile stress generated by flame hardening induced the cracks on the surfaces, especially across the prior austenite grain boundaries, and the material failure virtually, which might limit practical use of the surface engineered parts by flame hardening.