1084 measured at 57 rc

U

Utican

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Sep 18, 2010
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I have been working away on my puukkos and have made a couple for friends and they love them. I had a few measured for hardness and they all come back at 57 rc after an hour temper @ 400 f. The blades take edge and hold good. The very frist one I made I have not re honed yet just sharpening steel brings it bas to shaving sharp. All in all no complaints preformance wise just wondering why it's lil toothy if you look closely. They are a true puukko grind no secondary bevel. So the question is should I alter my HT or is this nothing to lose sleep over?
 
Normalized 3x first at 1550, 1500, 1450, then heated to 1500 and quenched in olive oil heated to 130f, then tempered 1x at 400, notice that I tried tempering 2x at 400 same result
 
Optimum austenitizing temp for 1084 is 1470f, and it needs to be soaked at temp
for 2-3 min to reach max hardness, which should be Rc 67-68. After tempering
at 400f/2hrs X 2 you should have a hardness 4-5 points higher than you indicated.
 
I don't think your olive oil is working for you. Heating to 1500F is enough for 1084 to reach full hardness of 65HRC (a bit less with oil, but recomended for section under 1/4" thick). A bit of soak time is better but not necessary if you bring it up to heat slowly and have done the proper steps prior to quenching. Your quench medium is not fast enough, I'm afraid. If you can't get a hold of some engineered quenchant, switch to canola or peanut oil... they are faster than olive.

Rick
 
Just to double check water is out of question because my blades are 1/8 thick?
 
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no water! are you measuring the RC in a ground area or on an area that is still unground from the HT?

-Page
 
The Mn. content ( .6 - .9% ) makes it an oil hardening steel.
A full quench in water would be too fast/severe.
 
you run the risk of cracking the blade... If you do water quench, make sure you have sanded the blade to AT MINIMUM 220 grit. 320-400 prefered. to reduce the risk of scratches becoming stress risers. and then once you quench, RUN don't WALK to your PREHEATED tempering oven, for a 2x2 temper cycle.

Good Luck!
Jason
 
I have water quenched 1084 with good results for the "most" part :p The first time I tried it I cracked a blade. Then I started warming the water a bit and sanding the blade down to 220 grit. Leave about a dimes thickness on the edge.
Water quench is not always a sure thing but you can eliminate most of the variables and put the % in your favor anyway. ;)
 
we should meet up so you can show me what you've done. Lunchtimes or just after work in New Hartford are best

-Page
 
Hey Id like that Page My e mail is Muameomeragic@gmail.com let me know when, measuring is done at a local steel stamping business, they make their own tooling I would guess that they are calibrating it. I grid of the decarb with a belt sander, and had them measure closer to the tip of the blade, and its same result even though I moved from using coal fire to furnace. Are temp gauges on these furnaces accurate I have a Vulcan 550
 
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