O-1 tool steel blades

O

O-1 fan

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Jan 10, 2000
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I have been making knives for 6 years now(stock removal),but since i started forging O-1, i beleive i will never go back.
I have used 440c and Ats34 in the past and had them heat treated by a local maker,but find that the O-1 blades that i treat hold a way superior edge,but are less stain resistant than 440c and Ats34.
I`am new to forging so any help would be very appreciated.I forge on a home made "disker blade" forge,burning coal.The blades turn out awesome!
thanx for the help
O-1 fan
 
0-1Fan
I am interested in forging and want to build my own forge. Can you give me an idea of how to do so? I have gone to many sights, and have seen several plans but have not found anything that i can build myself . Not that i am not talented enough but I am unable to find the materials I need.
 

ydduit
hi and thanks 4 replying,well i guess it`s pretty simple if u know how a forge looks and u have at least simple welding experience
Basically you find a disker blade about 15 inches in diameter , weld a peice of 2 inch exhaust pipe to the under side centered over the center bolt hole (which is diamond shaped in my case)oh yeah i made the pipe about 8 inches long, cutout the side so you can weld another peice of pipe to it forming a "t" then at the bottom take a hack saw and cut about an inch up from the bottom but only about 3/4 of the way through , that is where u slide a peice of tin in to make a trap door to clean out the waste.
then you just weld three or for legs on the bottom so it stands at a comfortable working height.I use a vaccuum in reverse blowing through the side pipe (tuyere)oh yeah the vac blows way too hard so put another of those traps in there to control the flow.
I use mine in my shop so i fashoned a steel hood over top and a 5 inch chimeny to let the smoke out.
It sounds alot more difficult than it is.I was forging in about 30 minutes laterand it works pretty darn good.if you still don`t understand i can e-mail you a pic and some crude instructions to get u forging in no time.
 
the problem with forging is that i like using ats-34 and d-2, and i plan on using bg-42 also. i'm going to use my m-2 bar soon also. it's not very easy, infact impossible for me to forge any of those steels. do you know of any way to forge these steels? i'd like to make an m-2 core blade with stainless outer layer, and you need to forge weld to do fuse them.
ats-34 heat treated by rob simonich out performs all other ats-34.
 
Magnum 44
i havent ventured very far past O-1 so i couldn`t help u,sowwy.But it is said that the heat treating and tempering process if done right is the soul of the blade.

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That which does not kill you, only makes you stronger
 
0-1 Fan, That sound easy enough. one question though, do you put any type of steel screen in the disker blade to keep the coal off of the bottom of the blade? I would think that with a screen you would get a larger and hotter area in the bed of coals.
Thanks, YD
 
Ydduit
that is a good question.But no all i put is a bolt or two across the hole just to stop the peices from falling down the hole.I also wet the coal and form a sorta castle wall around the hole,put a few peices of coal in the center,start a fire,and once i got nice coals i put fresh coal on top and flick the switch,and i`m ready to forge in about a minute,
If any one has a better suggestion i would definitly like to hear about it .
 
o-1 fan, i also believe heat treating to be the soul of the blade. if it isn't heat treated it's just a fancy peice of steel.
 
Hello all!
To ydduit:
If you are ready to spend some money, i'll suggest you should buy some books. There is a small book named "Custom Knifemaking - 10 Projects from a Master Craftsman" with advice on how to build a forge from a car wheel rim. Oh yes, and just put a light dimmer in the line of the vacuum cleaner to have something to regulate the air flow.
Another good one for the beginner is the book from Karl Schroen about forging tool steels. This should be the book for magnum .44, too, because Schroen explains how to forge and heat treat modern tool steels like M2, D2, 440C and some others.
I have forged and heat treated many tool steels, including D2, 440B, CPM T440V, M2 and some others from which i do not know the american names and have had great results. Just be prepared to spend 3 to 5 times longer to forge the same blade as when forging 5160 or O-1. The high alloy elements content in those steels makes some of them really hard to move, even when bright orange. Personally i was very (very!) pleased when getting the possibility to use a power hammer to rough forge D2 and M2 blades.

Achim
 
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