How do I heat treat 1095 at home?

A

AKY

Joined
Oct 29, 1998
Messages
114
I love this forum!!!

I have ground my first knife with steel supplied by Koval. Man, am I having fun! I read somewhere about heat treating simple carbon steel in the oven. Something about heating to 400 deg. F then quenching with water. Is this right or possible? Am I on the right track? I would like to do the first one at home instead of sending it out.

Can anyone help?

Thanks,
Tony
 
You'll need to go a little hotter than 400F! I don't do a lot of 1095, but it must be about 1550F You can do this with a torch and just heat the blade from the spine evenly until a magnet will not be attracted to the blade, then quench in warmed up oil. Then temper at 350F for about an hour. Different people do this differently and I am sure you will get more replies.

Why is this appearing twice?
Good Luck!



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Ron Ruppé
http://www.ruppe.com

[This message has been edited by Ruppe (edited 30 December 1998).]
 
You'll need to go a little hotter than 400F! I don't do a lot of 1095, but it must be about 1550F You can do this with a torch and just heat the blade from the spine evenly until a magnet will not be attracted to the blade, then quench in warmed up oil. Then temper at 350F for about an hour. Different people do this differently and I am sure you will get more replies.

Good Luck!



------------------
Ron Ruppé
http://www.ruppe.com
 
Question... by heating from the spine, you mean point the torch on the spine, and let the steel redden downwards to the edge? or heating it on one side until both sides of the bar steel is red and non-magnetic?

Dan
 
The edge will heat much faster than the spine, so putting the heat on the spine will give you a more even heat.
Heating in the oven in the 300-400 range is for the temper, to make the blade a bit softer and less brittle. This is what keeps it tough enough to use, but hard enough to keep an edge. There are many methods of it, though. What is the blade size that you're doing?

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Oz

"When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt."
- Henry J. Kaiser
 
I just made two blades from 1095 and heat-treated them with a MAPP/OXEGEN torch sold at Home Depot for ~$50. These were experimental blades since it was my first time using a non-stainless. One blade I quenched in a brine solution the other in a light oil.

After heating the blade, I checked the blade temp with a magnet, (I only heated the cutting edge), then quenched in the heated medium. A nice hardening line showed on both knives. I repeated this three times...

Results?

Being new at this I screwed up and didn't heat both sides well enough... One blade warped ~3/16" from choil to tip. The oil quenched one was OK. The big pisser is that I didn't have enough salt in my brine solution.

When I smacked the brine quenched spline on an anvil the blade cracked. Both blades were hardened well as a file skated off the edge. The spline was still softer. I still haven't been able to break the tip off the cracked blade but I imagine if I started prying it would go...

Given that 1095 is cheap and grinds easily it was a good learning experience. Hope this helps.

Steve
 
They are right, you're going to need more than an oven. If you have an oxy/acetelene torch that can work (although if the blade is bigger than about 6'' the flame may be a bit small). I use a propane torch that hooks up to a 20lb (gas grill) tank. This thing throws a 6" wide flame about 4' long when you sqeeze the handle. I make a little "oven" out of dry stacked fire brick, put the blade in there and blast away. I get an even heat job to non-magnetic in a few minutes. Then I quench in warm olive oil (smells nicer than some of the alternatives). After sanding off the black oil residue, I temper in the kitchen oven at about 400 until it turns a dark straw to to light vermillian color. I would suggest paying more attention to color then time. Check frequently. If you let it go too long you're right back to where you started and have to heat treat over again (if it gets to even blue or blue grey for example). If you're thinking of buying a torch, you can get one of these flame throwers from Harbor Freight for about 20.00 (you supply the tank). They're online.
I think working with 1095 is a great (and cheap) way to learn.
Good Luck and have fun.


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The purpose of life is to appreciate and enjoy it more every day by learning, growing, and helping others to do the same.
Happycat

 
Osbourn,

I plan to try one at around 6 to 7 inches length. The blade I believe has been heat-treated already, though not enough I think.. so I was thinking of trying it all over again.

But by heating the spine, you have to keep moving the torch left and right to assure even heating, right?

The joys of experimentation.. hehehe.
smile.gif


Dan
 
I move the torch up and down the spine, with a little bit of lateral movement, but I keep it as far from the edge as possible. I haven't done it this way since I built the forge. What Happycat described is a slightly smaller version of what I'm using to forge now.
If it's been heat treated before, then you may want to consider annealing it first, some would say a triple annealing to normalize it fully. Just put it in the oven at around 600 for an hour or so to do it the simple way, or use the torch. With the bladelength you're doing, it should get an even heat pretty quick. Just be sure to keep the torch moving. If you don't anneal it first, you can overstress the steel. When it's overstressed, it can warp or break in the heat treat.
Hope this helps.

------------------
Oz

"When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt."
- Henry J. Kaiser
 
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