Now I know I have O1 steel- Problem?

D

deloid

Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
458
My block of steel is apparently O1 (Thanks for the answers to my gage steel question!).

I have been looking around and it doesn't appear many people are using O1 (photos, discussions). Is there a problem with O1 ( I will be hot forging to shape)?
 
I dont think that it will be the very best for forging, but it is an excellent knife steel. there are no problems with it, but some steels are just plain better.
 
"I dont think that it will be the very best for forging"
Is that because of the narrow range of heat it has when you can strike it? I read it doesn't like to be hammered below 1550 degrees F.
 
I agree o-1 is a good knife steel, In heat treating it can be very forgiving if you do not get it right the first time. The major drawback is if you do not take care of it properly it will rust. Knife steel is like fishing, the best thing and the thing that is working that day is the one you do not have. Like most fisherman you can get caught up in the next best thing and jump from one bate to the other with out learning how to fish with what bate you have.
 
I think that it will forge alright, maybe not as well as 5160 or 1085, but if you go within reasonable temps, it should turn out alright. (i don't know because i stock remove O1, cant operate a forge at my house at the moment :grumpy:)
 
O1 is a very good forging steel. Just work it hot (course that applies to any steel.) O1 is probably the most forgiving of a bad heat treat because you can anneal and redo the heat treat a couple of times. I use O1 round stock at times for special projects, never had any troubles with it. There's a lot of knives made out of it but not a lot of discussion because it's a fairly well known steel for bladesmiths.

Seconding what Cloyde said, it's pretty susceptible to rusting, putting a very fine hand rubbed finish helps prevent rust IMHO. Keep the blade clean and oiled.

Remember to hit it hot.

Remember to hit it hot.

Remember to hit it hot.

:D
 
Alot of guys will probley come into this thread and state that 01 is their favorite steel,

its really good for its purpose, but i wouldnt make a huge knife out of it
 
I cant seem to google up any references to support my case right now but-
by memory

Bill Moran did forge O1
Randall Made Knives -still does

the choice of 2 legends -

Safe to say forging O-1 is a OK

Steve
 
I was speaking to Kevin Cashen about O-1 and 52100 a few months ago. He mentioned the fact that if you nail O-1 in heat treat you won't have a better blade and compared it to 52100

Most of the suppliers I talk to tell me that the industry calls 52100, cheap O-1. Don't kid yourself, O-1 was designed to make sharp things that CUT in small batches.("Applications include short run tooling for blanking dies, cold forming dies and cutting tools.) I would say that's a pretty good description of how we use steel, small batches and cutting tools. I'm sure that if we were to start messing around with it the way some of us have with 52100 we would get some pretty amazing results.

As far as rust is concerned, I have 1084; 1095; W-1; W-2; 52100; H-9; H-13; "Russian Railroad Track" steel and a fine collection of O-1 in my shop and I assure you. THEY ALL RUST!

Does it move differently under the hammer? YUP, but we're BLADESMITHS, if we wanted it easy we wouldn't do this at all. If O-1 moves differently then another metal than GREAT, it will be one more steel under your belt that you know how to forge and handle. Can't be anything wrong with that.

Aldo
 
Well said Aldo! I see alot of this "but it ruuuuuuuusts" stuff going around lately, GET OVER IT that is what steel does hehe:D. O1 is definately good steel to forge, just be very careful of your temperatures.
 
I've put a good mustard finish on O-1 and it does a pretty good job of slowing down rust since it's already an oxidized finish. Not what you would call a show finish but you can't beat the functionality of it....
 
bryce said:
Alot of guys will probley come into this thread and state that 01 is their favorite steel,

its really good for its purpose, but i wouldnt make a huge knife out of it
Click to expand...

You got it bryce!
O-1 is my favorite steel and I forge it almost every day!
www.ealyknives.com
I make damascus out of O-1 and L-6; lots and lots of it.
I also agree with bryce about the huge knives, my preference is that if a knife is over 12" then I switch to L-6.
Thanks,
Del

P.S. the whole point in forging is to get the steel hot and move it around, for any steel good for knife blades this is true. As the blackmiths say Strike while the iron(steel) is hot!!!
 
Aldo Bruno said:
I was speaking to Kevin Cashen about O-1 and 52100 a few months ago.

...I'm sure that if we were to start messing around with it the way some of us have with 52100 we would get some pretty amazing results...
Click to expand...

Your brave Aldo, as time goes by fewer and fewer people are willing to admit they speak to me at all:D;).

However, God help us if we ever start messing around with O-1, or any other steel for that matter, the way too many have with 52100. O-1 is a great steel because you don't have to dance a witchdoctor two step to make a knife from it, all you have to do is exactly what the people who made it recommend. I still think there is some element in 52100 that burns out in forging and gets into smiths brains, as every time I have "one of those" (play the theme from "The Twilight Zone" here) type of conversations, 52100 will be involved at one point or another ;)

O-1 forges very well, I have been doing it for very many years now, but it moves a little slower under the hammer than 1084 or 5160, I recommend keeping it hot for the ease of shaping but the real danger is from getting it too hot as some flavors of the steel can be red short and a little touchy at the high end. Cycling down from high heat and proper normalizing is a must for O-1. If you are used to just shutting down the forge and walking away after your last forging heat (something that you can get away with without disaster with 1084, 5160 or even 52100), you will not like O-1 until you learn how to normalize.

In heat treating O-1 will get hard from quenching in just about anything from AAA to mud mixed with snot, but appearing to get hard is not everything in proper heat treating. I would be willing to say that a blade made from 1084 heated to nonmagnetic and immediately plunked into some oil would perform as well if not better than a blade done the same way out of O-1. However if one were able to accurately soak the steel in order to bring the carbides into play it should have no problem blowing 1084 out of the water.

We desperately want an easy solution from that one steel that will automatically make a great knife, but the steel doesn't make the knife the knifemaker does, and one can make a lousy knife from the best of steels, or a pretty good one out of a nasty metal all depending on how we work and treat it.
 
O1 isn't the easiest to forge but will move just fine under the hammer if you keep it at the proper temperature. Make sure you get your blade perfectly flat while its hot, I've cracked blades trying to remove a slight bend in the steel when it was cool. You would think that I would learn the first time :rolleyes:
In general O1 is a great steel but it is a bit of a pain to drill though.

-Dan
 
My biggest recommendation with O1, which I love to forge btw, is unless you have some mechanical assistance (power hammer / treadle hammer / press / etc) don't buy it in sizes larger than 1/2" round because O1 REALLY fights back at the anvil. Just the difference in 1/2" round and 3/4" round is enough to make it seem like you're hitting the face of your anvil... when you're hitting red hot steel. The half inch moves well though, and I enjoy forging 1/2" round.
 
Well, folks can damn me if they want, but O-1 is the rustingest steel I've ever worked with. I love 1084 and use it more than any other steel - I don't know the why, but I've never seen anything rust as fast as O-1. This is coming from a guy who has rusty 440C and S30V because of the climate here.

Can't say how it forges, not what I do.
 
I get rust spots in my shorts and there cotton. When I smoked I thought the spots were from deep inhaling. Not sure what is going on.........
 
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