O-1 for Bowie?

jhiggins

jhiggins

Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Messages
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I'm thinking of making a few bowies, and was wondering everyone's thoughts on using O-1. My desire for this project is to use a steel that works well, polishes well, and if I desire it - makes a great hamon. I'm concerned with O-1's durability and shock resistance. I although I doubt any of my fancy bowies will see much if any abuse, I still take great pride in knowing the knife could perform if the owner needs it to.

Any thoughts/advice? Thanks! :)
 
Go for it. O1 is a lot tougher than most people think; given proper heat treat, of course. ;) :)
 
I think the biggest problem you will have is making a great hamon. it hardens so deep that the only hamons ive seen were edge quench or torch heated, and were straight, or smooth lines. Ive never seen a o-1 hamon with any crazy action (though i'd like to!).

The knives i've done in 0-1 have performed great !
 
01 will make a fine bowie, like danbo said, with proper HT it's very tough. You can get a good quench line with 01 but not a good choice for a clay HT or an active hamon. For an active hamon look for a steel with low manganese and no chromium such as W1, W2, 1095.
 
You can get wild hamons in O-1 using satanite as clay along borax to limit the amount of quenchant getting between the clay and steel (learned that trick here.) One thing I have not had any success with is geting controlled detail in the line. Saw a hamon that looked like large saw teeth here a while back. Tried everything I could think of to get that effect but the 'points' on the sawteeth came out rounded. It still turned out really wild looking though. Will post some pics tonight if you are interested.
 
This is the kind of activity that can not be had with 01. You can get a nice line with 01 but nothing like this.
 
Here's a beter example.

01 is still a very good knife steel, just not the best for a very active hamon.

PS - yes, please post pics of cool 01 lines.
 
1095: Holy moley it looked good until I polished it out....

hamon3.jpg
 
Not a great photo, but the hamon came out nicely on this bowie (1095). Subtle and ghostly, this was etched with hot vinegar solution.
38367911-M.jpg

So Don, you think W-1 or W-2? What about L6 or 5160? I'm looking for something besides the 1095, which is a good steel, but I want to do something different because I have been using 1095 on big knives for about 3 years now.
 
I wouldn't worry about O-1's durability and shock resistance. Reggie Barker won the last two ABS World Cutting Championships with his "Border Guard" model in 0-1. I agree that 0-1 won't make a very active hamon,though.

Todd
 
Jeff, you can't go wrong with O1. You could always send it to Brian Goode (Mr. Hamon) for HT if you want a nice hamon on it. :p :D
Scott
 
Todd Robbins said:
I wouldn't worry about O-1's durability and shock resistance. Reggie Barker won the last two ABS World Cutting Championships with his "Border Guard" model in 0-1. I agree that 0-1 won't make a very active hamon,though.

Todd
Click to expand...

Good point, Todd. If anyone can put a knife through its fair share of abuse, its Reggie. I will try one and see how it goes. :thumbup:
 
My drill sergeant told me that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. So I'll bite: what exactly is a "hamon"?
 
Sorry it's kind of a big picture.....

This is O1 hamon I was talking about earlier. The clay was layed out in sharp points leading out to the edge. Rather than getting a sharp sawtooth effect, I got a looping effect. Anyway, think I'll give 1095 a try here in the near future.

DSC00107.jpg
 
jhiggins said:
Not a great photo, but the hamon came out nicely on this bowie (1095). Subtle and ghostly, this was etched with hot vinegar solution.

So Don, you think W-1 or W-2? What about L6 or 5160? I'm looking for something besides the 1095, which is a good steel, but I want to do something different because I have been using 1095 on big knives for about 3 years now.
Click to expand...
L6 and 5160 are great steels for big knives but not too good for hamon, too much manganese and chromium. You can get a good quench line by edge quenching though. 1095 is good because of the low manganese content which makes it shallow hardeding which means more activity in the hamon and not hardening up under the clay like the higher alloy steels. I have also got good lines with 1060 and 1065 but the line will run up under the clay a bit because of the higher manganese.
 
ahh hell..............0-1 hammonds are fun :) Try it. Like Don said, it wont be wavy but it can be done. :D

I just had to chime in! :thumbup:
 
Jeff
O1 :thumbup: :D
you can always electro etch the hamon on later :foot: :D :D

most my Bowies have been O1 , you've seen them here.
 
Rookie7 - Hamon is the Japanese word for the transition area in a clay quenched blade.It is formed by the different types of steel above and below the Hamon.The spine area,under the clay,is softer Pearlite and the edge is hard Martensite.The hamon is the boundary ,and is Troosite.It etches and polishes differently than the two other steels and shows that beautiful ghostly line.
Stacy
 
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