1095/15n20 vs 1080/15n20 damascus

J

JasonByers

Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
106
I haven't made much damascus but the stuff I've made has been with 1080 and 15n20. How different is it when using 1095? Can I still quench in oil considering the carbon migration creating .86 percent. Or is that too high for oil? The reason I ask all this is that I just got a deal on some thin 1095 and would like to try it but I'm unfamiliar with the heat treatment mainly. Thanks ahead for any help.
 
The amount of carbon doesn't determine whether or not you can use oil. It's all the other alloys - or lack thereof - which determine quenchant speed/type.
O1 and 52100 both have more Carbon than 1095, but are oil quenched, and use slow oil at that, as they are very deep hardening.
Use some medium to fast oil and you should be pleased.
There's just so much to consider it's almost exhausting to think about it.
That's what keeps this keeps this forum going.
 
Thanks Karl for the reply. After researching a little tonight I found the lack of a higher Manganese count in the 1095 compared to other 10XX steel was the cause for the faster quench (I'm sure there's more to it than that). I should have known it wasn't because of the carbon content as I use quite a bit of 52100. I'm trying to know why stuff happens instead of just following directions but your right there's so much to consider it hurts my brain. Thanks again for the info.
 
JasonByers said:
...I'm trying to know why stuff happens instead of just following directions but your right there's so much to consider it hurts my brain. ...
Click to expand...

Statement such as this show that bladesmithing not only may have a bright future but a very healthy one. I am glad Karl got you a good answer, he is a little rough around the edges but he is a real good guy, no matter what everybody else says;). This is the key to it all Jason, not only will needing to know the reasons, hows and whys, make your bladesmithing better, it will make bladesmithing better for you. And having so much to consider, in fact too much to consider, is the best part, it shows you the endless possibilities to explore when you abandon perfunctory motions given to you by other guys just doing the same perfunctory motions. I probably would have given up bladesmithing out of sheer boredom some time ago if I were still just following the simplistic recipes I got from other smiths who had no idea why they did things, other than they believed it worked. I still have the book a friend gave me which changed it all for me. He had just finished a metallurgy course and told me I should have his text book. I had gotten my Mastersmith stamp and was really afraid of reaching platue in my career and stagnating. Oh, I knew I could try different artistic touches and styles for the rest of my life, but the steel was just steel and “heat until the magnet didn’t stick and plunk in oil” seemed so ordinary now. Then I opened that book and it was like living exclusively in a small room and then opening a door to an entire universe, so vast I could never explore it all!

Mete is fond of saying how fun it is to slay myths, but with each little bit of real metallurgy you pick up, the myths aren’t slain as much as they just sort of fade in comparison to how fantastic the real facts are. Steel is some of the coolest stuff man has ever played with, it doesn’t need tall tales to help with this.
 
Kevin you have a very inspirational way of putting things. I've enjoyed your posts throughout the time I've been on bladeforums and have learned a lot from people like you and Karl. Thanks guys for the time you volunteer for the new guys like me.
 
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