1084 heat treat

C

Clyde O'Dell

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Jan 10, 2003
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Can anyone tell me at what temperature I need to temper blades forged out of 1084. They are for using knives and will be oil quenched. I have misplaced my notes for 1084. Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Clyde O'Dell (Coach) Also, I usually temper them 3 times in an oven. Thanks.
 
I'd go with two two hour cycles. Do your first at 350 and the second one you may want to up the temp depending on how hard you want the blade to be. Hope that helps, Coach....
 
I had good luck tempering 3 times at 400 degrees, much higher and they get too soft in my opinion.
Kyle Fuglesten
 
Kyle is right on. Assuming that the blade is fully hardened, then a range of tempering temperatures of 385 F to 400 wil be fine. for a really big blade with a lot of mass, you may want to got to 425 F. 450 is too high. Always start low if you have any doubts. Sharpen and test with a temporary handle and re-temper 25 degrees higher if too hard. I look for what I call a "balanced" temper, that is not too soft and not too hard. I have noticed that some makers consoistenly seem to recomend tempering temps too low in my experience, and the industrial heat treat guide lines always seem to be way too high. Ultimately you have to deal with your particular set up and blade style and rely on empirical testing.
 
You could modify the tempers according to the intended use. I strongly recommend at least 2, prefferably 3 temper cycles. You could go as low as 350F on a short, flat, stout knife and go up to 425 on a big chopper.

However, In playing around with HT's and my testing so far, I've found that the "balanced" temper / hardness seems to do everything really well. I'm speaking of the famous 375F mark. I almost always do a selective hardening, (clay-backed) on 1084, so my opinion is based on a blade with that type of HT. I find that 375F x 3 cycles allows small blades to keep cutting and cutting and the big blades are still nice and choppy at that hardness. Jason.

Edited to add - many household ovens don't create exact temperatures - there could be a 20degree temperature difference. For instance, when I tested my home oven, 385F on the dial produces 375F on a cooking thermometer. It can make a difference.
 
I temper mine at 375F but I don't feel too bad if the oven creeps up to just under 400F either....works fine on my combat knives. 3 one hour cycles and I throw blade in a deep freezer after the first temper.


Greg
 
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