Square One

cmott69

cmott69

Joined
Sep 11, 2004
Messages
237
O.k. guys lets hear it.

In your opinion what is the easiest steel for a newbie to harden and temper.

Lots of failures and fractures lately, so I'm going back to square one
and try and keep decent notes this time.
 
O1 tool steel!!! I have made a bunch of knives out of it. Its easy to harden with an oxy/acc torch, and dip in hot oil after it looses it magnet appeal. Throw it in the oven for an hour at 400 degrees and your set. Only bad thing with O1 is it likes to rust!!!!
When heating it up, try to take your time with the torch. Spread the heat so it takes around 5 minutes to evenly as possible. Do not sharpen it yet before heating it. Leave an edge around .040 thick. As soon as it looses it magnet atraction dip it in the hot (125 degrees) oil as soon as possible. When its cool enough to hold in hand (125 degrees) stick in preheated oven (clean off oil with acetone) at 400 degrees for an hour. Let it air cool to room temp, and stick it back in for another hour. When air cool you can finish the edge and other grinding thats needed. Just don't let it get too hot grinding. Keep dipping it in water while grinding the finishing touches. Always worked good for me. I am sure others have their own receipe for blades that work as well also.
 
I agree 01 is my choice and still is. It is easily ht in a basic setup (i do mine in a fireplace and a oven. it is easy to grind and gets verry hard quickly. bad points are brittlenes and rust but a good ht and maintance makes that fine.
pretty easy to hand sand also
 
5160 and 1080 are considered the best for beginners since they are simple to heat treat and forgiving and can be done with minimal equipment.
 
I agree with mete. 5160 is very forgiving,and easy to HT.1080 is about the same.1095 is good ,too.Regardless of the steel,doing all the steps properly and completely is the key to success.Anneal,forge at proper heat,stress relieve,quench and immediate temper,multiple tempering . All are important ingredients to having a quality blade and not having a failure . Take your time,don't rush,read,learn,practice,practice,practice.
Stacy
 
Any of the 10xx 01 5160 are HT with min.trouble. Heat to non magnitic quench in 130-140 degree oil , temper clean blade 1 hr at 375-400 in oven. Do this cycle twice for extra durability. If you have spicific questions contact me via email and I will help you. :D
 
With the 5160, do any of you use a propane torch to temper by running a low flame along the spine starting above the riccasso area and working towards the point? Along the spine turns blueish and with the heat going toward the edge it turns a straw color. I learned this way for tempering. Do this three times after letting it cool between each time. Any thoughts on this way?
Scott
 
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