need help tempering my knife

A

avigdor

Joined
Oct 6, 2009
Messages
25
hi
i am a beginer and need help with the process of heat treat my first knife made from o1 steel
after reading the salt bath article i think to bild one that works on gas
can someone pleas send me a detailed process of the heat treat
how long do i have to soak the stell in the salt after reaching the right tem' ( if at all)
what is the right tem' for it
every thing you can think that will help will be appreciated

thanks

avi
 
AVI.... PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT BUILD A SALT BATH UNTIL YOU LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT METAL!!!!

If you have qustions on how to heat treat you don't have the knowledge to run a salt bath.

If you don't know the difference between tempering and heat treating you don't need a salt bath.

If you don't know how to do the basic research on heat treating you don't need a salt bath.
 
yeah salt?!?!:eek:

please don't use salt, very few people use salt baths b/c a couple of gallons of molten salt at 1800F is Really dangerous

read the stickies at the top
 
Will is right. And don't take it the wrong way, he's just concerned about your safety. Salt can be VERY dangerous to you and destructive to the rest of your shop/contents as well. I've been heat treating my own knives for years, and I don't have, maybe never will have a salt pot. When I read your post, I thought the exact same thing as Will. Some experienced makers use salt successfully, and it can be a very good quench medium because of its scale prevention and temperature control, but you have to know what you're doing with it. Any moisture at all can cause the salt to explode out of the tube and cover everything about with a clinging layer of molten 1800F+/- salt.

As for O-1 heat treatment. It's critical temperature is 1450-1500F. It needs to get to that temperature and stay there for at least 5 minutes. I heat to 1475F, equalize, and hold for 20 minutes. Then you need to quench it quickly and smoothly into a tank of medium speed oil. Something like canola or olive oil will work for O-1 where they may not be best for other steels. Heat the oil to about 130-140 and agitate the blade in the quench once you're under the surface (spine<->edge or tip<->but, not side to side).

If you don't have adequate temperature control for a longer soak, O-1 can be tough to get it's full potential from.

--nathan
 
I'm sorry if I sounded a bit harsh but I meant to sound harsh. Salt baths are dangerous if you try one without knowledge and salt baths are dangerous if you're careless. We're not talking about a cut and stitches dangerous, we're talking about large 3rd degree burns, burn recovery ward and a structure fire dangerous.

When you're learning to heat treat blades you'll have enough going on without worrying about a salt volcano. When you have experience heat treating and are looking to gain a lot of control or precision and UNDERSTAND the process you'll be able to make an educated decision on whether or not salts are the direction you'll want to take.
 
thanks you all for the worning abut the salt
it did not apprear that dangerous when i read it and i will take your advice


nathan thanks for your help ' i will use my gas forge for this

"thouse how dont try dont make mistakes"
 
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