Re-harden 1095

theonew

theonew

Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
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I have a Rat Cutlery Izula in 1095 at 57 HRC. It's an excellent knife but I would be very interested to see how 1095 at 64 or 65 HRC performs. Would it be possible to have this knife re-hardened to that level? If so, can anyone around here do it? Thanks.
 
That would involve normalizing the blade then quenching in water or brine. and a snap temper to 300ºf... Bad things can happen with a brine or water quench like causing it to spontaneously crack after quench. It would be a slicer only then IMHO. with absolutly no tolerance for any abuse.

Jason
 
Thanks very much for the replies.

Well if someone here thinks they can get it to somewhere between 62 and 65 with a reasonable chance of success, I'm willing to pay you up front and will assume all risk. Send me an email of PM if you're interested.
 
Not good to re-heat treat if the edge is very thin. Also the blade will need a re-finish after HT.
Does it have handle, or scales, or all metal?
 
It's an all-metal, skeletonized neck knife, I would just need to remove the rest of the coating (I've already done the blade portion). It does have a very thin edge, around 16 to 20 degrees inclusive, but that could be changed.
 
How bout if you make yourself a similar blade out of brand new 1095 and experiment?

-Page
 
1095 has a torsional strength peak at 65-66 (depending on cold treatment), so I'd recommend getting it hardened to there.

I recently had a 1095 blade heat treated by a friend who's getting into knife making, and it seems to have come out well (scratched the hell out of a beer bottle at least. I'll know more when I get the blade back).

I'll ask him if he'd want to do it for you.
 
Here is the HT part of the problem, if you go to reharden the knife. Even if you do not renormilize you have to take the blade to 1500f and then quench. Taking the steel to that temp unprotected will cause some decarb, which will have to be ground off. If you put, the steel in a foil packet to protected it from decarb, you will not be able to quench it fast enough. It maybe possible with a salt pot. Fast steels like 1095 are usually left thick then hardened and tempered and then ground to final thickness. If I wanted a small knife that hard I would use D2, because I have a lot of it and it is great steel. There are a few steels out there that would do a better job at this hardness IMHO. M2, S30V etc. Having a small necker made from such a steel should not be to expensive. Qustion is what do you want from the knife. The ability to take a very keen edge, hold it and not chip or roll over or break in half. The RC hardness and the ability to scratch glass is only part of the story.
 
mete said:
Probably not to that level.
Click to expand...

Why not mete, assuming he normalizes before rehardening? Deep freezing and 340F temper should give him 64-65 rc, no? I never worked with 1095 but I know 1084 could reach those hardness levels.
 
theonew said:
My skills with working with metal end at sharpening a knife :grumpy:
Click to expand...
Every one of us started somewhere, and that is what the shoptalk forum is all about. If you want to learn how to get started and make exactly the knife you want rather than butchering a purchased knife start asking questions. We'll get you going

-Page
 
OK, I get the drift, the butchering project is officially aborted. It will be awhile before I get the chance to make my own knives but its on the agenda. Perhaps after my wife and I retire to Vermont. Thanks for the advice. For now I'll develop a relationship with a custom maker.
 
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