question about heat treating 01

S

skilldust

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Mar 13, 2007
Messages
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Hello again this is skilldust. I need to diferrentially heat treat a couple of 01 blades and I was wondering if ITC 100 ceramic coating will work? Appreciate any and all comments.

Thanks a bunch skilldust
Jerry Bond
 
I have tried to differentally HT O1 but with no or limited luck. O1 can take quite a while to quench (some have posted 10 seconds) and still harden. I dont think clay will give you the time and temp differance you need. I suggest an edge quench, I did it once and got a little bit on hamon which indicated there was a difference in the HT.
 
O1 is not a good candidate for differential quenching. It simply
dosen't show a hamon as well as steels with less Mn. Additionally,
O1 does best with a soak at Aust. temp....doing that with a clay
coat for hamon definition would be difficult to do while protecting
the edge from decarburization.
 
Edge quench is the way to go. very best is to heat the edge with torch instead of the forge if possible. I also like to rub some of the quench oil on the blade before heating it as it helps with clean up after the quench. If you heat your quench to about 140 degrees before you quench you will get a fairly good transition line.
 
Thanks alot guys. That edge quench sounds good to me. Believe i'll try that.
Thanks to all
jerry
 
If it was me having to to this, I'd HT the blades by fully hardening them, tempering them, and then move on to protect the edge in a pan of water or oil, and carefully drawing back the spine and handle portion with a torch. That's just me, though. :) Good luck with which ever method you choose. -Matt-
 
I agree with Matt. O-1 has been my primary steel since I started, and I've gleaned every bit of HT information that I could over the last several years. That by no way makes me any expert on the subject, but here's what I'd do (my opinion). Soak it at temp for at least 10 minutes if possible (I soak a full 20) and quench it fully under a medium speed oil. Let it cool to oil temperature, or you can marquench at around 400F and let it cool in still air. After tempering at 400, use a torch to draw back the handle and spine keeping the edge in a bucket of water.

I have edge quenched with O-1 when I first started and had no trouble with the knives, but after talking with some more experienced makers, it seemed the wiser option was to fully quench and then differentially temper. O1 is very difficult to get a beautiful hamon, so an edge quench or clay coating the spine really won't do much but form pearlite and/or bainite in the transition zone without giving you the beautiful line you can get in a 10XX series.

--nathan
 
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The first time I used O-1, I clay coated it and I did get a decent hamon, but in spite of a good long temper the blade snapped in half when I was testing it. Now I draw temper with a torch and get good results.
 
Ok--i did the edge q last nite---will try it-but have 3 more to do [12 & 14 in"
blades. I have about 9' of 1095 --will that [diff-ht] work ok for big bowies?
I know at least one will be used -more or less as an axe - some people don't understand.

Wish i knew how to put pictures on here would like to show you guys some of the bull #$%&* i get myself into.
Thanks again for everything
jerry bond
skilldust
 
Edge quench on the 1095 works great. Be sure to heat your quench to 150 before using. I didnt use to do that and had a few problems with cracking. Matt Lamey got me to heating my quench fluid and It has made a big difference. The transition line comes out alot better now too.
 
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