O1/l6

K

Kevin Casey

Joined
Mar 20, 2002
Messages
180
I've started using O1/L6 for damascus and have encountered some different problems than good old 1084/15N20. After welding, forging and normalizing this stuff it is still too hard to drill and machine. I understand that i need to anneal it to drill into it and my question is does one anneal after normalizing, work the steel as needed, then harden and temper? or do i need to normalize again before final HT (harden and tempering) or I am way out to lunch with this stuff....? I'm using salt baths to HT and thats why the venture into O1/L6 (going from hardening quench directly into tempering quench). Also what is the best way to anneal this stuff? Any help and info is very much appreciated-kc
 
Kevin welcome to the sometimes trying world of O1/L6. In blade blank sizes this stuff is capable of fully hardening just in the air which will give you more grief than just drilling and machining. I do all of my normalizing after the forging and then totally speroidize the stuff. Spheroidal is really the only way to go with this mix if you plan on machining in any way. The subcritical anneal also leaves the grain size entirely alone so that you do not undo anything done in normalizing. If you have kilns that can ramp put the steel in the kiln and soak it at 1375F for around an hour and then ramp the temp down to below 900F no faster than 50F/hour. This treatment will tame this mix and make it behave quite well in machining. Pearlitic strutures will not work with this steel, so tricks like wood ash or vermiculite will be a waste of time.

Be aware that the spheroidal treatment will absolutely necessitate soaking to get proper solution, but this will not be a problem for the salts.
 
yes. Air hardening, my shop is so cold anything that comes out of the froge is likely to be to hard to drill. Well not quite but I did have troubles with O1 because of the cold. I hate Mi. in winter.
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Kevin welcome to the sometimes trying world of O1/L6. In blade blank sizes this stuff is capable of fully hardening just in the air which will give you more grief than just drilling and machining. I do all of my normalizing after the forging and then totally speroidize the stuff. Spheroidal is really the only way to go with this mix if you plan on machining in any way. The subcritical anneal also leaves the grain size entirely alone so that you do not undo anything done in normalizing. If you have kilns that can ramp put the steel in the kiln and soak it at 1375F for around an hour and then ramp the temp down to below 900F no faster than 50F/hour. This treatment will tame this mix and make it behave quite well in machining. Pearlitic strutures will not work with this steel, so tricks like wood ash or vermiculite will be a waste of time.

Be aware that the spheroidal treatment will absolutely necessitate soaking to get proper solution, but this will not be a problem for the salts.
Click to expand...

Kevin, Speaking of O1/ L6, any available? Your email doesn't work. Sorry for the hijack.
- Mitch
 
Kevin- Great info:thumbup:. this stuff is certainly a different animal. Another question- what is the correct normalizing temp? i've been doing three cycles starting at 1550f stepping down to 1450f for the final one. also i harden at 1500f and quench directly into 450f. is this correct? thanks-kc
 
Kevin, everything you are doing looks spot on:thumbup: I quench into 425F salts but that is just because of the lag time with my low temp tube and I need to get things down to 415F-420F for tempering.

Troop I finally did recieve your last e mail, if my replys does not arrive within the day let me know. I will free up space in my private messages as well.
 
Kevin- just wanted to say thank you for info you have provided on this (and other) forums. Its people like you who keep this craft advancing- kc :o
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Kevin, everything you are doing looks spot on:thumbup: I quench into 425F salts but that is just because of the lag time with my low temp tube and I need to get things down to 415F-420F for tempering.

Troop I finally did recieve your last e mail, if my replys does not arrive within the day let me know. I will free up space in my private messages as well.
Click to expand...
Kevin, no emails from you. Here are my email addresses; please email me when you get a chance. Thanks.
rokicki4741@embarqmail.com
dragonfly@policeone.com
 
I can make some steel for you but right now I am really loaded with work that should have been done yesterday, it will take much longer for me to get to the forge. Normally I can get steel out to sombody in around 2 weeks, but not when the folks who needed knives 2 years ago are calling and knocking:(
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
I can make some steel for you but right now I am really loaded with work that should have been done yesterday, it will take much longer for me to get to the forge. Normally I can get steel out to sombody in around 2 weeks, but not when the folks who needed knives 2 years ago are calling and knocking:(
Click to expand...
Kevin, got your PM; glad we're communicating. Ref. the steel, whenever you get a chance; no rush.
Thank you; I appreciate it.
- Mitch
 
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