1095

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soopy

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:confused: my computer keeps kicking me offline so i will make this fast. I need info on heatreating 1095 @home on my stove/oven. I just finished grinding my first knife.She aint purdy, but she is all mine. Any help will be great. THANXALOT. SOOP THE TWOFINGERED TYPIST:D :D
 
You can certainly get the info you need here. There are a lot of makers on here more knowledgeable than myself, but I can tell you the basics: 1095 is a simple carbon steel that you can heat treat at home, but it will require getting the blade to non-magnetic, around 1500 degrees F for 1095 I think. This can be done with and acetylene torch, a coal (or charcoal) forge, a propane forge, or a heat-treat oven. The heat treat oven is probably the most guess-free method (controlled temp) but these things are pretty expensive. After getting the blade to non-magnetic, quench immediately in warm (140-150 degree) oil such as transmission fluid. I do an "edge quench" where only the part of the blade you want fully hardened is placed in the oil first, then place the whole blade in after a few seconds. The blade needs to be tempered soon after it is cooled. Most makers recommend three tempering cycles at around 400 degrees for an hour or so each cycle, cooling to room temp in between. You can do this part in your home oven.

Another option is sending the blade out to be professionally treated. Also, do a search here on the forum for the "one brick forge". An economical answer for doing small blades.

Dan
 
:) :) :) thanks Dan that should get me where I want to go.:D :D :D
 
Boy are you going to hate life when you heat treat that. Hopefully the blade isnt too long. If you V ground it and have a relatively thin edge section I would get the whole blade hot. If the cross section is more of a convex grind you may get away with a edge treat. Make sure you evenly heat the blade on both sides if you use a propane torch the blade will warp no matter what you do but you can control the severity of the warp by even heating. Dont worry about the brine just use room temp. water dipping point first. Ihate working with 1095 Ive gotten to the point of heat treating the blade after profiling. Use O1 the edge is great and hardly warps at all,if any.
 
After reading the above post about using the warm oil for 1095. I guess the blade wont warp but it wont get hard either. 1095 is a water quenching steel. Your supposed to use brine for faster cooling but just plain water works great. Also when your heat treat is complete temper it in your oven till a nice even light straw color comes up. Write down that temp. for future ref. My oven says one temp. and the colors say another. I usually temper for 1 to 3 hours.
 
I use alot of 1095,this is the way I do it,for what it is worth. I heat to non-magnetic. I use either Tranny fluid or vegatable oil quench. Then I temper 3 times (2hrs) each time. I have several customers that really enjoy my blades when treated & tempered this way. Hope this helps you out.
 
Welcome to the forum, Bear! You probably didn't realize that you were answering a question that was asked in 2002 and that the person who posted the question hasn't posted here since late 2002. If you look in the top left corner of the post, you'll see the date of posting and subsequent posts.

-Mark
 
Yes,1095 is a water quench steel by category,due to the need to bring the temperature down very fast. In the thicknesses used in knife making, oil is more than fast enough, and will greatly reduce warpage. The hardness will be nearly the same. You adjust the final hardness in the temper cycles, so the final hardness will usually be exactly the same for an oil quench or a water quench.

When you hear that an oil quench didn't make 1095 harden the culprit isn't oil....it is the TYPE of oil .Most smiths who have been around 1095 a while use fast oil, Heatbath/Parks #50 ,or Fastquench will bring 1095 down past the nose quick enough to be glass hard.

The real problem in 1095 is cracking and warping. The stress created in those fast cooling quenches can literally rip the metal apart. When water quenching ,hearing the PING is part of the learning curve. If the blade warps, straighten it immediately .....before it gets to 400F.Once the martensite transforms, any attempt to straighten the blade will result in it breaking. Temper immediately after quench to avoid accidentally breaking a 1095 blade.

It is a good idea to make a cardboard template from each blade you grind, prior to HT. That way if the blade breaks, you can grind another one the same. If the final blade is a good shape, you have a template to make more of the same. When working in 1095 this can be a good idea!
Stacy

FWIW: the order of quench speed from fast to slow is:
BRINE
WATER
FAST OIL (#50, Fastquench)
REGULAR OIL (AAA)
AIR
 
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