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me2

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Oct 11, 2003
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4 hours of shaping and grinding and my 1095 blade is now shaped like 3 flint knapped knives instead of one 4" hunter. I know the causes, and halfway expected it to crack in the quench, but that still doesnt make it any easier. Everyone here told me 1095 was touchy, but I tried it my way anyhow.
 
Making mistakes is one of the things we all have in common...Just try to not make the same ones over and over, you'll get a reputation.:D
 
Did you quench in water? I've never cracked a knife quenched in oil. When I made my first knife attempt, I used 1095 quenched in water and it cracked. Never did that again. All the hours spent grinding went down the drain.
 
Glad you learned.Hope others will take heed.
THERE IS NO NEED TO QUENCH KNIFE BLADES IN WATER TO HARDEN THEM.
Unless you are trying for a specific effect (hamon,sori,etc.) water is too violent a quenchant for general use.
Get a good oil quenchant and be happy!
 
bladsmth said:
Glad you learned.Hope others will take heed.
THERE IS NO NEED TO QUENCH KNIFE BLADES IN WATER TO HARDEN THEM.
Unless you are trying for a specific effect (hamon,sori,etc.) water is too violent a quenchant for general use.
Get a good oil quenchant and be happy!
Click to expand...
There's always the exception....One of the best performing blades I ever made had a triple quench...first quench in water...the next two in oil...I forged a blade from 3/4 inch round stock 52100. That blade would cut better than anything I have made.
 
As I said,if you are trying for a specific effect,you may survive a water quench,but there is always a risk.
Your blade survived the water quench,and the subsequent quenches removed the stresses created.If you had done all three quenches in oil,the same result would have been reached.It was the final quench that created the hardness,the first two only created carbides and fine grain.
52100 does do well with multiple quenches,as Ed Fowler has well documented.
 
I'll reiterate what other have said - definitely don't quench 1095 in water, even though some websites tell you to (such as Admiral Steel's info). I learned that one the hard way, too!
Keep at the grinding, mistakes are part of the process!
 
The blade was full convex on about 1" wide, 3/32 stock. I had the area at the plunge grind a little thinner than the rest, and thats where the crack started. I also overheated it, as the fracture is really coarse. I thought maybe the convex shape would be a little more forgiving, but apparently not in this case. Looks like I'll have to try oil next time, or at least heat the water. Its a wonder the knife didnt just jump out of the vicegrips and smack me for even trying it this way.
 
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