Problem with 1095 Heat Treat

B

Buckaroo Knives

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Jul 8, 2014
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I have a 1/4in thick 1095 knife that I have tried to heat treat twice now, I can not see to get it hard. I am using a propane torch and getting it up to non-magnetic and quenching it in canola oil. Then tempering at 400 for two hours. Any thoughts as to why it is not hardening?
 
how long is it taking to go from heat to quench material (oil)? ive heard that you need this process to be fast for best results
 
Buckaroo Knives said:
I have a 1/4in thick 1095 knife that I have tried to heat treat twice now, I can not see to get it hard. I am using a propane torch and getting it up to non-magnetic and quenching it in canola oil. Then tempering at 400 for two hours. Any thoughts as to why it is not hardening?
Click to expand...

Yes, you nailed why it is not working in the form of a question. 1095 is not an easy steel to get right. You need to anneal it, normalize it, then heat it evenly to 1475 (non magnetic is 1414f, and is nt hot enough) and quench it in a quenching medium that will get it below Pearlite temperatures in under 1 second (canola heated to 130f might do it but 1/4 inch thick is tough) BTW how are you testing your hardness, if it is a file test, how do you know you are below the decarb?

-Page
 
is your 1095 hard after the heat treat? does it get hard and then soften too much with the temper? then you will know if the problem is your quenching or the tempering and then you can narrow down your solution
 
I am using the file test and test before tempering, when I take a swipe with the file it take a good amount of steel off. This does not happen when I heat treat 3/32in O-1 steel.
 
Buckaroo Knives said:
I have a 1/4in thick 1095 knife that I have tried to heat treat twice now, I can not see to get it hard. I am using a propane torch and getting it up to non-magnetic and quenching it in canola oil. Then tempering at 400 for two hours. Any thoughts as to why it is not hardening?
Click to expand...

It's not hardening because you have no way to hit and hold the temps that 1095 needs to harden properly. You need to be able to hold it at 1475 for 10 minutes to get the carbon into solution, then get it from 1400f to 900f in half a second. O1 can take 10 seconds in quench and still harden. O1 needs the same temp control as 1095, but the more forgiving quench allows some hardening, rather than a complete fail. I would suggest looking into building a forge and using steel like 1084 for now.
 
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