01 carbon tool steel-wood carving blades

[JBJ]

Hi Folks

Being new at this, I'm running into problems getting my blades tempered. I use 01 carbon tool steel , form the shape of the carving blades which are approx 3'long, 1/4"deep and 3/32 nds thick. I harden at 1450 degrees F and quench in mineral oil at room temperature.
I than try to temper by placing in my home oven at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes +/- , until the metal is a dull straw/gold colour and again quench in mineral oil at room temp..
I end up with a blade which is too soft and will not take an edge and will also bend easily. I am looking for a blade hardness of approx 58-59 but am obviously doing something wrong.
What am I doing wrong? Iwould appreciate assistance from you more experienced folks. Thanks.

 

[Fox Creek]

JBJ, Hmmm, sounds OK to me. Are you testing the blades after hardening to see if they are fully hardened? Use an old small file and see it it wants to grab or slide on the hardened steel. It should skitter off if the piece is fully hardened. You did not say how you were heating the blades, but you mentioned a specific temperature, so assume an oven with pyrometer? Your calibration may be way off. On something small like that you can do it by eye perfectly safely, just go to a nice red-orange with no internal shadows in the steel, all in subdued light. ***Also, are you sure you are quenching the steel QUICKLY enough after withdrawing from the oven? Small stuff cools off FAST. Have your quench media close at hand so only a fraction of a second elapses. Grab it Dunk it! Just that quick. Also the oven temp for the tempering may be off, mis-calibrated I mean. Try a 50-75 degree lower temp. Hope this helps.