Parks #50 quench crack on 1095

[twistedneck]

Good points Matt. I think he is agitating the blades in the quench, but I'll check on that. He could also make a circulating or vibrating quench tank to keep the medium in motion and cut down on any vapor jacket.

I think going straight to the temper while the blade is still a bit hot and following up with a second temper is a good practice with touchy steels.

Tai Goo, not sure if you have tried it but quenching 1090 is very do-able even into straight water no matter how uneven you do it wont crack if you have not started to create strange grain boundries, also if that steel is from a different batch it may have more phos, sulfer and residual chrome (everything is from a mini mill these days) resulting in even worse grains. i think most japanese edges were 90 carbon or about at 60+ rockwell and the only temper was a few brief moments of the spine heating them back up yet they survive.

 

[Tai Goo]

Yes, I have tried water quenching on a number of steels including 1095, and I'm not a big fan of it. It worked fine on some blades but not on others. I know it's doable though.

I do think there is maybe a bit of a trend towards over quenching and under tempering, but it's just too risky for my liking.