O1 Temper Temp for Afghanistan Knife

ddavelarsen

ddavelarsen

Joined
Dec 7, 2000
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Usually I leave O1 pretty hard since for the use those knives are put to, edge retention is more important than toughness. Typically I temper at 385. But for the Afghanistan knife I figure I'd better lean toward the toughness side. So what temp would you folks recommend? It's in the oven now at 395 for the first cycle.

Thanks,
 
Might want to drop the second temper down to about 410 - 420 F. I think I would and my notes on O1 blades I have recently done shows that. I was getting about 59 -59.5 HRc though. You can always continue tempering until its where you want it. If too hard temper a third or fourth. 58 might be good for what you are making.

RL
 
Dave,
I dont know the numbers but I wouldnt go any higher than 425 degrees.
Keep it around 415.....
 
Its pretty much a judgement call, especially if a hardness tester is not available. Best thing, I believe, is to test it as close to its purpose and tweak from there. My O1 has been about 59 - 60 HRc with tempering in the 410 - 420 F. range. For this one, if me, I would aim a little tougher. Problem is if too soft the HT has to be repeated. Brians advise might be good followed by repeatably tempering in increments until desired hardness.

RL
 
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