Steels over .8% carbon have extra carbides that you will need to contend with in order to not have them possibly do some negative things. Once you have the skills experience and knowledge to deal with these carbides they will provide excellent edge holding properties, but before you have the abilities to put them in position to do that they will tend to collect in places that will give you grief. These factors make the temperature window for complete success a narrow one for 1095. 1084 however is in the Goldilocks zone from carbon content- not to much, not too little, but just right! All you need to do is heat it to a little beyond nonmagnetic, quench it and you should be good.
Both 1095 and 1084 are what are known as shallow hardening steels, this means they need a quicker quenching medium than other alloys to reach full hardness. But the only alloying that gives the the ability to harden in any oils instead of water is Mn. 1095 has less manganese than 1084 making it even more time sensitive in the quench. Once in the quench the liquid needs to cool 1084 past 1000F in around .75 seconds, while 1095 is around .5 seconds.
Proper steel selection is one of the most critical skills the modern bladesmith needs to acquire and it is the one that is fairly lacking in our business. There are no bad steels, only poor choices by makers. I have seen many good steels badmouthed because somebody chose an alloy that was wrong for their application, beyond their skill set, or was beyond the capabilities of their equipment.
I'm confused as to which to believe. So my question is what is the difference between 1095 and 1084? Are any advantages/disadvantages to using either one?
