01 problems and me

D

Dakota 11

Joined
Apr 14, 2006
Messages
252
getting angry now that i have ruined 2 good pieces of metal. my main problem is that it is hard as hell after i temper it. my temper has been 500degrees for 1 hr, remove let cool to room temp and another run at 500 for an hr. even after this i can bearly and i mean bearly get a brand new file to bite the bevels. i have been doing the heat treat in a 1 brick forge and have messed around with the time and temp. but generally has been in the brick for 5 mintues and then direct into quech oil. pre temper after quench file wont touch it at all. after the 2 temper cycle still hardly gets it and mostly grab a little then starts to skate across. so since file wouldnt grab tryed to finish up teh bevels buy flat grinding but in a fraction of a milla second i screw up and cook the blade on the belt. i find it impossibly hard to do any kind of bevel work on a belt grinder. first knife was all file work and took longer but made it to finish. last 2 ruined plz helpwhat they hell am i doing wrong. their has to be a better way. thanks
 
Maybe you could do all your profiling before heat-treat? At least to get the bevels set, while the steel is soft. That's what I'm doing, working on annealed steel with just files. It saves a LOT of time and elbow-grease. And even if you do use a belt and "blue" or "cook" the steel, it won't matter because when your profile is done you can just anneal it again, then heat-treat it.
500 degrees sounds a bit high, but I'm new at this too. Do a search here on heat-treating and you will find lots of articles, links and tutorials.

Please take this with a grain of salt, I'm new at the heat-treating game too.
 
actually i am profiling the whole blade and the bevels before heat treat while it still soft. its that last little bit to finish that is the problem for me right now. i have been using 2 offset lines filing to that which leaves me a little meat on the edge so it dont warp during ht. and crucible website says 500 is fine and have searched and seen some others using that temp . just wondering if it supposed to be so damn hard after 2 temper. the first knife i completed i just did the old bring to non magnetic trick and dunked it and it turned out easier to work maybe ill just go back to that .
 
Dakota,
I only use a 400f temper, but just with sandpaper and a block I can finish bevels ground in at 60 grit on a 4" blade in 2 hrs or so. forget the files and just use some elbow grease.
Del
 
I take my 01 blades all the way to where I want them and heat treat at 100 grit finish. Then do the finish clean up and polish work. I temper at 465o to get around 57/58 RC, 475 for 54/55 Rc. I harden at 1500o, after a 10 minute soak, protected with PBC. If anyone would like to critique my process, I am open to any and all suggestions. I have only been using 01 exclusively for a short while now, and am no expert on 01, but so far I like what I see and the results I am getting. Feel free to make suggestions.
 
The biggest thing i see is your heating before quench. O1 is a bit more sensitive than other materials and needs better control for consistent results. Do you have a pyrometer? This could make a big difference. One test you could try is the brass rod test. Sharpen the blade then flex the edge over a brass rod. If it chips out the temper it again 25deg hotter until it stops chipping. I have found that some files are a lot softer than you might think. Try the brass rod and let us know what happens...

Chuck
 
Your blade should be hard as hell after temper, if a file were to cut it then it would not be hard enough.

Use brand new belts after heat treating and run them slow (variable speed is a very good thing) If you don't have a vaiable speed grinder then use new belts with light presure and use a bucket of water to dip the blade in, no need to over heat a blade while grinding.

Sounds like your doing most everthing right, you just need to learn to finish your blades after heat treat.:)
 
I agree with Don. O-1 is a great steel , I use it all the time. I'd say your H-T is good as long as your austenizing temp is not too high.

Dennis Tingle
 
can 1 actually install a pyrometer on a gas forge type. not sure if they work on only electric. If tehy work with 1 brick forge then i will install 1 which then i should be able to know excatly what temp is. oh and a oven or 2 are in the future probably 3-4 months down the line
 
I think the pyrometer would be of benefit. A one brick forge could get intense inside in small areas and leavin it in for five minutes with no way to guage or regualte temperature could overheat it. If you were to heat O1 until the grains got larger and the austenite was really saturated I would entirely expect to see that kind of hardness at 500F tempers, but other properties quite undesireable.

If soaked at a controlled temperature from 1475F-1500F, I would expect results very similar to what LRB describes in his post. LRB, consider this my commentary on your proceedure which looks good to me ;)
 
Dakota 11 said:
can 1 actually install a pyrometer on a gas forge type. not sure if they work on only electric. If tehy work with 1 brick forge then i will install 1 which then i should be able to know excatly what temp is. oh and a oven or 2 are in the future probably 3-4 months down the line
Click to expand...


Yes. Just put the probe into the cavity and it will give you a pretty accurate temp.

Chuck
 
You are doing just fine, follow some of the ideas some folks suggested. Gibson fan is right finish grinding drilling and profiling the entire knife before you even think about heat treat. Grind your knife until it is 99 percent completed, drill all the holes for handle fittings prior to heat treat, it is much much less work. After heat treat the only work done to the knife is to put a finish on it and fit up the handle, then make the sheath, and the very last thing you do to the knife is shapening it. Sunfishman has a good point on finishing, keep the blade cool as possible is key. Leave the sharpening until the end for safety's sake.
 
can any 1 link or offer input on were to get a pyrometer? think maybe found a hand held one for 65 dollars. does that sound right??. said temp readings within a degree and up to 2000 f. thanks again
 
Thankyou Mr. Cashen, I was hopeing my treat was at least in the ball park.
 
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