1084 or 1095 for first heat treat

[adamts01]

I am going to be making 3/16" and 1/4" thick utility knives and am going to place an order soon for the steel. I have never heat treated anything but have been reading alot about it in this forum and around the web. I am happy with the performance of my 1095 knives and have never used anything made of 1084 for comparrison so I'm a little worried about the downgrade. These knives are going to be about 10 or 11 inches long so I am planning on using coals instead of a torch for hardening. I'm going to get a thermometer and use the kitchen oven for tempering. I keep hearing that 1084 is so much easier to heat treat but it doesn't look too much different than 1095. I don't have a way to monitor exact temperatures for a soak time in the fire so with that alone would I be better off going with 1084? I don't mind springing for some good oil if it means successfully using 1095. Plenty of people claim to have great success using motor oil or canola oil however. Are they just lucky? Even if I pull off a successful heat treat with 1095 would 1084 with these guessing the temperature magnet methods yeild a better blade? I've read most of the tutorials around the web so I'm looking for some first hand experience from anyone who has succesfully heat treated these steels with limited equipment. I plan on eventually getting in to the chemistry of everything that's taking place and know many of you could write a book of an answer but for now I just want to build some functional knives that I otherwise couldn't afford so please keep everything simple. I live in Fort Worth and travel to the Fort Hood area and down to New Braunfels every few weekends so If anyone is in those areas I could buy lunch in exchange for a quick lesson. I'm a college student so that's abotu all I can offer. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[12345678910]

I keep hearing that 1084 is so much easier to heat treat but it doesn't look too much different than 1095.

I don't have a way to monitor exact temperatures for a soak time in the fire so with that alone would I be better off going with 1084?

Yes

Here is the short version of why.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/673173-Working-the-three-steel-types.

 

[adamts01]

Thank you for steering me toward that great chart. That visual example really helped make sense of the chemistry that has intimidated me. According to the diagram loss of magnitism occours 63 degrees above where everything is dissolved. Is that an acceptable range or should I hold off until I can build some sort of oven? I am anxious to get started but I don't want to have a junk end result. I suppose worse case I could always start over. I hear that as long as the 10xx steels aren't severly overheated the respond well to multiple heat cycles.

 

[12345678910]

Some use "one shade of red" above magnetism

Some watch for decoalscence (spelling) shade changes.


One of the "old time" measures of temperature is the melting point of salt
1474

 

[adamts01]

Thanks for your quick and helpful replies. I've also found your other posts for new guys helpful. I'm getting the $50 knife book you mentioined in another post for Christmas. Until then I'm going to get my hands dirty with some 1084 and hopefully have some decent blades to hand out for the holidays.

 

[12345678910]

Thanks for your quick and helpful replies. I've also found your other posts for new guys helpful. I'm getting the $50 knife book you mentioined in another post for Christmas. Until then I'm going to get my hands dirty with some 1084 and hopefully have some decent blades to hand out for the holidays.

I'm glad you found some of it helpful.

I believe in reading all knife books and watching all videos too, but to be really clear, the $50 knife shop is last on my recommended list.
It's easy to buy, but the other books listed are better in my opinion.

 

[adamts01]

Got it. I think it was the $50 that hit a chord. good marketing on their part.