Look, 1095 is finicky, but it isn't impossible or really even that difficult to HT. No need to be skiddish, just understand what you're looking at up front. Where I see a lot of people with a bad 1095 taste in their mouth is that they treated 1095 like 1084 and had issues. Now, just like anything you took head on in your life; riding a bike, asking out a hot chick, eating a jalepeno.... understand the possibility for failure, what is needed for success and nut up.
Warping is due to uneven grind, uneven heat, or uneven quench. As long as you have a nice even grind (you are grinding, yes? As long as you aren't forging we can skip a normalizing step...) and a means of heating the steel evenly you'll be fine.
Grind your steel down to about the thickness of a dime prior to HT. (Going too thin is where you will get cracks. Thinner sections cool faster than thick, so cracks form at the edge, etc...) If you're using a forge, use some sort of muffle. A pipe large enough to fit the blade but small enough to fit the forge is great. If your forge is too small for anything other than the blade, it can still be done, but you'll have to move the blade around a bit during heating. Like roasting a marshmallow only you don't wanna pull it out and blow on it.
Heat to non-magnetic and then a shade hotter. Don't start pulling it out and checking it for non-magnetic until it develops a nice dull red color. You want to see that color develop and see that it does so evenly. This is a good litmus test for even heating. Plus, if you keep touching the steel to your magnet you can overheat it. Some neodymium magnets, for example, start to lose their magnetism if heated to above 175°f. Over 500°f and they're toast. Keep your magnet close to the forge entrance but not too close (magnet overheating, remember?) and make your checks brief. You'll feel it lose magnetism. Resist the urge to go "Hey, cool!" And tap it to the magnet 15 bluemillion times.
Have your quenchant near the forge. You'll hear times quoted like 1-2seconds from temp to quench for 1095. This is where people burn down shops... Don't rush it. The steel does need to drop to sub-400°f in a little less than 2 seconds, but it doesn't start cooling like it's been pushed off a cliff the second it leaves the fire. You have time. Don't dilly-dally, but smooth and steady.
Quenchant. I use warm water. 150-175°f water works perfectly fine for sections of normal blade size. Grab the blade by a non-critical point (with tongs, yes?) and remove from the forge straight to the quench. No need to check the magnet again. As long as it was already past non-magnetic, and you heated it some more, it still is... Enter the quench straight it like you are cutting into the water. Move the blade slowly up and down in the water, not side to side. Staying still will create a vapor layer and the blade might not quench. Side to side can cause uneven cooling thus warping.
As soon as the blade is cool, get it into the oven for a tempering cycle or three. You can look up what temp for tempering depending on your desired final hardness. Pre-heat the oven prior to your HT so its ready to go when you are. The blade will be really brittle post quench so we want to get it tempered as quickly as we can. If you want to check your HT success at this point that's fine too. A file should skate across the steel if successful. There will be scale on the steel though which can make you think the HT was a failure, so make sure you are past the scale and into the steel.
Or, send it off for HT.
No need to jump ship or be skiddish IMO. You'll be fine.
-Eric
