1095 Trouble

D

D.A. Guertin

Joined
Oct 29, 2001
Messages
181
I just bought some 1095 from TKS, and it's absolutely TERRIBLE! I wore out two hacksaw blades trying to cut off two sections, wore out two belts, and I am left with a 1/8 x 1 1/2 x 12" rectangle with two 1/8 deep divots...I've got it in the oven at 500 degrees right now, hoping to soften it up a bit, but is this normal?

D.
 
Sounds like it might still have some temper to it.....500F won't soften it much. It would really need to be brought up to non-magnetic and slow cooled to soften properly.

I am using a cheap chopsaw to cut all my steel now.

1095 is tough stuff.
 
Definately sounds like it needs to be annealed. I'd call TKS and ask them about it. The catalog should have said so if the steel wasn't soft.

If it's really this tough I may know why it's more popular with smiths. :) I've never used 1095 so will interested in watching this thread to see what it's like.

Dave
 
I get mine from Admeral steel and haven't had any problems.
be sure you use good hacksaw blades.
normaly I'll cut it with a stock saw.
 
That's another thing that made me twig a sec; the 'cuts' in the steel weren't really cuts. I mean, it polished it. I had to snap through the last 1/16" or so, and I mean it snapped ! Bigtime. Nice big, loud *CRACK!* Slit my hand open nicely, too...
 
I know it ate up my band saw blades until I got a blade (matrixII w/cobalt). It is very tough stuff (from Admiral). Before I got the new band saw blades I used a cut off wheel. It doesnt make pretty cuts but it works. If you are just starting out I would go with O1 its easier to cut and has a greatly reduced chance of warpage when you treat it. As far as I'm concerned 1095 make a great temperline and thats about it.
 
The 1095 I get from Admiral Steel is sheared cold rolled.
if it were hardened, it would be a bit rough
on the Shear I'd think and it's cut to order too
in many cases at the other places,
they have to cut it too.
:confused: I use 154CM and O1 mostly and
I think they cut
a lot harder than 1095,
something is wrong?
 
Well, for those of you following this, I pulled it from the oven (after it had FULLY cooled)... Ohhhh.........Well, all three bars turned midnight blue, the cut areas are a purple rainbow, the ground areas are still kinda straw coloured, and the snapped areas ARE BRIGHT BLUE?!?!?! I think I'm going to stick with 440 and Thunderforged for a while longer...
 
1095 is a bear to cut or grind in any condition other than spheroidized annealed, but without being there I could not tell you for sure what condition your steel is in. No suprise about the temper in the oven. Sorry to chime in late, I could have saved you a trip to the oven. Don't give up, there is nothing wrong with your material. Find a local heat treater, ask for a spheroidize annealing treatment. 1095 is not difficult to cut when this process is done. Use bi-metal blades on your hacksaw and find some oil to help the cut. After you have ground your blade and want to harden and temper, have a normalizing treatment done prior. Hope this helps.

-Jason
 
I have some cold rolled 1050 that is tough to cut like this,That is because it is cold rolled and needs a good annealing before making anything from it.That is unless you have a forge and want to do the heat and beat method of making a knife,Then it shapes outreal nice...Just get it annealed and you should be able to work it allot easier.
Bruce
 
you guys got me on this one.
I just went and cut some 1095 straight from
Admiral steel nothing done to it and on
my ban saw that needs a new blade and it cut like butter
compared to O1 tool steel.:confused:
you do need to be careful of warping but other than that
I think it's great stuff to work with for a simple steel.
 Bruce E one of the last Bowies I sent Pete was of 1095
 you had it at your place it was the
 George Wostenholm  15 1/8" double edged stag handled Bowie
gray154.JPG
 
All I know is now that I use the MatrixII cobalt saw blade in my band saw (very expensive though $250.00 for a 100 ft roll) it will cut anything easily. I did have trouble cutting the 1095 as opposed to the O1 and both were in the state as I bought it. I do think 1095 is a great steel and will perform very well (I love the temperlines you can get with it) but out of frustration with the warpage and cracking from quenching (not bad all of the time but enough to be a pain in my butt) I went to using O1 pretty much all of the time.
 
2nd that about admiral steel 1095 cutting, grinding and polishing easily. Obviously it is annealed.
 
Well I guess this proves that all opinions are relative to our experience. I hardened my blades(58-60 r.on my hardness tester at work)after I profile them and I think they grind pretty easy too.
 
The hot rolled 1095 from Admiral Steel is not annealed, I e-mailed them once asking for the hot rolled annealed steel, and they rang something up that was completely different price (more expensive by a lot) from the HR1095 in the blade steel. This confused me, so I asked them why the price was different, and they told me that the HR1095 blade steel is not annealed. I changed my order to the cold rolled annealed (CRA) 1095 shared from sheets, and I've had very good luck with it, except you have to be careful with warpage.

I'm guessing that TKS HR1095 has the same problem as the HR1095 from Admiral (not annealed). They list it as a forging steel, and I'm guessing for the smiths it isn't as big of a deal if its annealed or not.
 
1095 is a cheap steel as to say , I use it all the time and I have gotten it from several different sources and Have gotten some like you say ,I think they Just dont take the time they need in the Mill with it and it get's hardspots in it , you may have gotten a big one on yours , when I get a piece like that I throw it on the Bar B Que coals and leave it all night , I use it for Kick springs in most all my automatic folders ,after all that is what it was made for was springs ,Tank
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top