HT 1095 blade

J

jackrabbitslim

Joined
Jan 28, 2008
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Before you say, "Hey, how many times do we have to talk about this?" I am not asking about HOW to HT 1095. I've read a lot of posts and I think I know how to do it but I don't have the capability yet. I have a charcoal forge made from a BBQ grill and it's not what you'd call precise. Is there anybody highly recommended for HTing 1095? I know I COULD do it myself but I'd like to maximize my results here.

-Gavin
 
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if you check out the recent "1095" thread it should give you some help. I was asking the same thing and they gave me some real good advise.
 
Just my opinion. If you are tempering 1095 at 325o, and getting a cutting edge that is not brittle, and chippy, I don't think your getting your blade hard enough in the quench.
 
Not trying to start a dog fight, but 1095 should not have any retained austenite that needs to convert at 15-20F (most freezers temp).It won't hurt anything, but you won't gain anything either.I haven't seen that chart before, so I just looked at the ASM charts that I use to check, and fully hardened 1095 should be tempered at 500F for a Rc 59-60 ( according to the ASM).

I agree with LRB, if you are quenching from an unknown heat source, at an unknown temperature, then the blade may well have been incompletely converted to martensite if a 325F temper made a better blade than a 500F temper.
Stacy
 
Thanks guys. I'll shoot Mr. Ealy an e-mail and see what he says.
son of bluegrass- thanks for the link. I guess I should have said, I've done some heat treats with my charcoal forge and my "magic" oil but I would like to see just how good a really PRECISE HT can make a knife, you know? I have some 1084 on the way and that seems to be the unanimous choice for a "simple" setup like mine if you want to get the most out of the steel. Here's hoping.
 
LRB said:
Just my opinion. If you are tempering 1095 at 325o, and getting a cutting edge that is not brittle, and chippy, I don't think your getting your blade hard enough in the quench.
Click to expand...

One of the graphs on my page shows a peak in torsional strength when tempered to 325o F. In a discussion on rec.knives, it was mention that older graphs of charpy tests showed the same local peak. Based on that work a fully hardened 1095 blade tempered to 325o F will not be chippy. If I had the equipment or the funds to pay for the tests I'd test a sample to see just how good I'm doing. I have out of curiousity checked the edges without tempering and they do chip from the quench. I know that may not mean they are reaching the full potential, but it's what I've got to work with. Short of testing I'm basing my technique on research I've done that tells me I can get a harder blade that will cut better using this procedure. I'm not trying to say this is the best way but it is working for me.
I want a knife that is harder than 60 Rc. They cut better and I'm not after a prybar.

Also if you look at the graph, 500o F has a local minimium for strength. It is what was once called the "blue brittle" range because of an increased likelyhood of steel tempered there to break. This may no longer be true with todays steels, I don't know.

ron
 
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