Oh no...I've gone and done it.

O1 should be brought to 1450 to 1500 and held at that temp for about 10 to 15 mintues. Here's a link to heat temps that might help you. http://www.blksmth.com/heat_colors.htm
Your quench oil should be between 120 to 150 degrees. Temper from 400 to 500 degrees, 2 hours twice. 2 hours in, out for 1 to 2 hours back in for 2 more hours.
Scott
 
Hey, that's very helpful, thank you!

There's plenty of information on the internet about heat treating O1 but you never know what to trust...but any treatment that you use on O1 would obviously be good enough for me, I am sure you've been there and done that plenty of times with this steel!
 
Man that looks sweet!

I cant wait to see the final product, I can say I would go for a convex grind. it is a good mix of edge geometry for a blade that style.
 
WOW that knife is going to be awesome. Your grinding is looking very good man.
Great job.

Bryan
 
Thanks guys! I started grinding down the transition to the edge a bit last night and convexing the thing, but I am now getting to the point where I will have to heat treat it, I think. The edge is thinned down to about o.o30" and I am starting to get nervous about grinding into the actual edge and affecting the cutting edge, so I figure if I heat treat it that will slow me down some.

I am not too worried about screwing up the temper grinding after I heat treat because I have been grinding without gloves on this whole time, just to make sure I never get the blade too hot.

Anyway I guess it's time to look at the Jantz catalogue or TKS and see what sort of solutions I can find for keeping close track of the temperature.

On the very small amount of steel (3 little knives from old files) I've treated before, I just heated the steel with a charcoal fire until it went non-magnetic and then dunked it in old motor oil, then gave them a minimal temper in the oven at about 300 degrees.

But they were little shaver knives, so I didn't think the heat treat was very critical. On a big chopper I feel like it's more crucial so I guess the magnet trick is probably not sufficient...what do you all think about that?
 
Is your goal to make a big knife completely by yourself, or is your goal to end up with a big knife that will perform the best it can? The heat treatment is one of the most critical ingredients to make a good knife as you know. I submit that there is absolutely no shame in recognizing that you don't have the equipment or expertise to nail the heat treat to its max potential on a piece like this. (I know I sure don't!!) Why not send it out to a professional, and then use this knife as a performance benchmark for doing the next one yourself?

At this point it may be too late to bring this up, but I thought I'd drop you a link for some leisure reading on the subject of "balance". http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=3837674 Might give you something to ponder when designing your next one?
 
O1 steel definately needs a soak time with a definate temperture. 1500 degrees is the norm. Steels like 5160 are easier to HT with simple equipment because you just bring it to non magnetic hold for a minute or two and quench. Being 1/4" thick, your way may not bring the blade to being fully heated throughout.
Scott
 
Hmm...makes the possibility of sending it out for heat treat more appealing for sure. I picked O1 in part because I thought the heat treats required to get the best performance out of the blade would be pretty simple to achieve, but maybe that's not the case.

I'll say this: I am sure having a hard time finding a local source of those tempilstik crayons that melt at 1500 degrees! Nobody around here seems to go over a thousand degrees.

Is there a heat treat service anyone particularly recommends?
 
The only person I've got to do my O1 was Bryan Lyttle. He uses salt pots to do it and I trust him. Another that I know of is Ed Storch (a great guy). I've never used him either but he knows his stuff (salt pots also). Both in Alberta so it is not across borders, give one of them a shout and I'm sure something can be done.
 
misanthropist, I see you do not have it set up to pm you. will you e-mail me at tacklebreeden@yahoo.com. I will e-mail you back some info and pics if need be
for your heat treating. It is pretty easy.

Thanks,

Bryan
 
Couple more pics...mainly been cleaning it up, trying to get the worst of the grind marks out before it gets hardened!

Again no fancy tripod or light box shots here...just a couple of quick snaps.

DSC_0001-2.jpg

DSC_0004.jpg

DSC_0008.jpg
 
Oh just noticed the posts above! I will contact you about info for sure there Bryan and I will also check out Brian Lyttle...big name that's for sure!
 
Wow - that looks like it's going to be a great big chopper - goodluck with the rest of it.
 
Scott is exactly right about soak time for O1 to get optimum heat treat... but you still get a good knife out of minimal soak, too. O1 is actually the steel that was suggested to me by a Master Bladesmith when I was starting out. it is a resilient metal and can withstand multiple heat treats if you don't get it right the first time.

Good luck, bro!

Rick
 
Looks pretty good so far...I like it. What kind of handle are you thinking..sorry if you mentioned it already...I am skipping a few posts:D
 
Okay guys a couple of quick answers...I'll be making some micarta up in what I HOPE will come out as a sort of diamondback rattlesnake looking pattern. We'll see how many tries that takes me!

And Admiral is cheaper...I notice that for the equivalent amount of O1 I would have paid a hundred bucks US. But then by the time it got here it would probably have cost me more like $130 with shipping and any duty...and if there was customs brokerage (which is lethal on anything shipped UPS) it would be about $150 or so. But that's in US funds!

So with the exchange, based on their rates it might not have saved me anything. It was a wrench to pay the money but the more I look at the options the more I think that's about what it would have cost me to get it here, regardless. 1/4" O1...apparently not cheap stuff!

Next time around I might give 5160 a go...that seems to be cheaper and similar performance, I think.
 
siguy said:
looks like a pretty sweet big blade there.

are you grinding entirely on a slack belt? i have found that its alot easier to take 50%-80% of the metal off on a flat platen, it goes faster and gives a flatter grind. then i take the rest off on the slack belt after that..

looks good though, i'm curious to see how it turns out!
Click to expand...

Good tip, I should try that out.

Good going, keep us updated!
 
misanthropist said:
Next time around I might give 5160 a go...that seems to be cheaper and similar performance, I think.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how particular you are regarding performance, but I would consider O-1 and 5160 to be rather different. O-1 has much more carbon to form carbides (for wear resistance) and plate martensite. 5160 would form more lath martensite which is a tougher form. I would consider 5160 better for a big chopper since my big blades have never gotten dull from abrasive wear- I have to sharpen out edge damage long before that point. Meaning strength and impact resistance are the keys. I'm trying L-6 on my next one, which should be even tougher than 5160, and am interested in S5 as well. (and maybe CPM-3V too)

L6 Spec Sheet
Steel comparison charts

Also, if you haven't already, check out Kevin Cashen's thread in shop talk about the challenges associated with heat treating high carbon & alloyed steels: Hypereutectoid steels

At any rate, I hope you'll give us a field report when it's done! :)
 
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