To what depth does it harden?

[GRapp]

1084 as I'm still skill building. What I seem to find is an industry standard of 1 inch. If it hardens less than, it's categorized shallow hardening. If my understanding is correct, even a thick blade of 3-4mm is harden through, right? I'm asking because I'm considering beveling after hardening but don't want to grind down to soft steel.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

In knife thickness and with a proper quenchant 1084 will harden all the way through. It is a shallow hardening steel, but the term is from industry where 1" is a standard. Most 1084 is just barely a shallow hardening steel because it has a reasonable amount of manganese. Much of the knife 1084 is alloyed with a tiny bit of vanadium to make it finer grained. These allows are sometimes called 1084FG.

Manganese levels below .3% will make steel very shallow hardening. This is an advantage in creating a hamon.

 

[DevinT]

Proper austenitizing temperature is very important, too low or too high and you won’t get peak hardness out of the quench.

I recommend you make several coupons and test them if you’re able.

1475’f is a good place to start.

Hoss

 

[Larrin]

Here are some experiments on 1/4” and 1/8” thick 1084: https://knifesteelnerds.com/2021/07/19/which-quenching-oil-is-best-for-knives/