o1 ID please

M

Mungo Park

Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Messages
337
I bought some o1 from a local steel shop, once I got it home I looked at it and it does not look the same as the blades I see. This is my first purchase and I do not know what it should look like. I know that ATS-35 has a blackish coating, so maybe the 01 is also coated or something. It looks a little to shiney and stsinless looking a little. It does not have the 01 colour to it. It sort of looks like a cross between o1 and some sot of stainless. I looked at the ends and they look the same as the sides. The piece is 3/16ths by 2' wide and 3 feet long. How can I tell without damaging the steel so I can return it if it is not 01? Or is this just how it should look. I would hate to spend a lot of time making my first blade only to fin out I can not heat treat it!!
Cheers Ron
 
Ron,
You won't be able to tell just by looking.
If it's shiney, perhaps the dark colored mill scale has been
ground off??

Try doing a spark test. Grind a bit off one corner & watch the sparks.
If the sparks are bright, and burst apart at their ends like miniature
fireworks, the steel is high carbon.
If the sparks are also slightly red/orange, the steel also has tungsten
in it.
You might try the same with several types of steel......old file...nail...
etc for comparison.

The spark test won't give you a positive ID, but if it's high carbon,
and has tungsten in it, O-1 is a pretty good bet.

Russ
 
Russ gave you some good advice :)

Something to keep in mind, is it's pretty damn hard to find O1 for sale that IS NOT precision ground. So it will be flat and square on all sides. This is VERY nice if you're doing stock-removal with it.

Unless you think the seller is questionable, there shouldn't be any reason to think it's not O1.

Remember, almost all steel will look like another steel if the finishes are the same, i.e. precision ground O1 will look like pg ATS, and pg S30V, and pg 52100...etc, etc.

-Nick-
 
I got O1 drill rod and it was very shiney too, it seems that's just how they do O1.
 
thank you for the response.
It is precision ground. I do not question the seller, except a slip up might have happened. I will do a spark test just for my own education. Thank you and I will go with it. As first time newbie the only o1 is what I have seen on the forums and not as stock. I bought it localy which is great as it cuts out postage and waiting around the mail box. I am building my can forge and will heat treat in this so I wanted to start with o1.
Cheers Ron
 
Clean it with acetone and stick one end in a can of water for an hour.Then set it (wet) on the work bench and go to bed.If the end is rusty in the morning,it is O-1,not stainless.
Most O-1 you get is shiny .A lot of shops color code the end of the bar to ID the steel ( check with the supplier for his code).They all look alike,pretty much.
 
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