1095 home heat treat? also coating question

T

tique

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Oct 28, 2000
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My dad has started making a few knives, playing with 01, A2, and 440c, which have all been heat treated out by the guys who know what they are doing. We are wanting to make a few blades out of 1095 to play with and see if we can do a home heat treat on them.

Since search is dead for now, I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction of an online source for info, some home brewed info, or even a good book/video or two. Cheap, fast, and easy are what we are looking for, but if it doesn't work well then it ain't worth tryin. A good differential heat treat on them would be awesome, but probably harder for the most part... I'm lazy, so again the easy thing jumps out:)

Also, what would be a good coating to use on the blades for corrosion resistance? The only blades out of 1095 I have here rust like hell compared to everything else down here. I'll probably cord wrap some of them, and others could have whatever handle stock we feel like that day, or at least have in the garage if we haven't ordered for a while.
 
I ahven't yet worked with 1095(its' on shopping list for next batch of metal), but I can at elast say what I've done on a few things for the coating. Your autozone or pepboys or whatever should ahve ceramic enamel exhaust/header paint. I can't remember the particular brand I use right now, but it's rated to 1500 deg. I do three coats, between each coat, let it dry completely, and put in oven for one temper cycle(think I did an hour and 15min at 425 or so for last one, which was edge quenched O1, you will have to modify this for your steel and particular application of that blade). This way you get three coats, which can be kept thinner to make sure it's all even, get a good triple temper on the knife, and also, get pretty close to their directions for treating the paint for additional toughness(in most regular applications of the paint, first good 1/4 mile run or similar engine use will heat up the exhuast system enough to cure the paint, but being on a knife, you have to apply the heat yourself). Be very careful to keep the painting layers thin and even. I'm still having some slight trouble, if you get it too thick/let drips remain, they ahve a tendency to bubble up in the oven, and that just looks bad.

my .02

Interested in hearing what other people say so I can get some tips on heat treating 1095 when I get some.
 
Tique, you can do it at home pretty easily, but you will need a few inexpensive items and you must have access to an acetylene torch or a Mapp Gas version.

You will need a magnet, a cheap, adjustable kitchen thermometer, a file, some oil of some kind and a non-flammable container for the oil. For the oil, you can use old motor oil for experimentation and cut it with a bit of ATF since 1095 needs a quick quench.

Get the thermometer and put it in boiling water and adjust it to 212 degrees, assuming you are near sea level. These cheapos are often way off so you need to do the above step. Put the oil in the container and heat it to 150 degrees as judged by the thermometer. You can put hot pieces of steel into the container to bring up the temperature. Use the torch to heat the blade edge about 1/3 - 1/2 way between the edge and spine. You will need to use the torch to "paint" the blade on both sides. As it gets red, check it often with a magnet. You do not want to overheat the steel. All carbon steels become non-magnetic when they reach critical temperature. When it reaches critical, give it one last quick heat to make sure it stays hot enough and then plunge it into the quenchant. Be prepared for a small fire depending on your speed and quench medium. Leave it in the oil for about five minutes and then remove it and let cool to touch. Clean it up and check the edge with an old file. If it hardened the file will skate off of the blade and will not bite into it at all - it will be as hard as the file. Scrub it good and put it into the kitchen oven at 400 degrees for two hours and you should have a good working blade.

This will get you started with your experimentation. There is some fine tuning you can do. Check back here and let us know how it goes. There are lots of people here to help. BTW - the above will give you a hard edge and soft back, in other words, a nice differential hardening and a tough blade.
 
Thanks for the info guys, much appreciated and keep it coming:)


Originally posted by Fox
For the oil, you can use old motor oil for experimentation and cut it with a bit of ATF since 1095 needs a quick quench.
Click to expand...
Call me stupid, but what is ATF???
 
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