I need some steel that I know what it is, after making several knives out of files. I am attracted to 1084 bar stock, since I've done 7 or 8 stock removal knives and only one forged knife, but I have a hard time paying 20$ for two sticks of steel and another 20 just to get it shipped here from Kalamazoo. The local Fastenal has drill rod in all kinds of diameters at a tolerable price in W1, O1, and A2. With my capabilities (charcoal forge, kitchen oven for tempering), I'm thinking the W1 would be the best. All the recent threads on quench mediums and so forth have got me convinced that the O1 might be better left till I get a more controllable heat source. Question is this: what size rod is the best to work with for forging small to medium blades in the 3 to 6 inch range, with a distal taper from say 3/16 down to about 1/8? Next question would be about quench medium. W1's good for brine according to what I can find. Tell me more about the HT options and procedures for W1.
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W1 Drill Rod?
- Thread starter Jason Fry
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2007
- Messages
- 5,060
5/8ths is a good size for what you are talking about. I would not suggest brine unless you can accept a few failures which are inevitable when learning brine, Park's or the Houghton K fast oil will be your safest best bet.
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2007
- Messages
- 915
As a general rule, you can get about double the diameter of the drill rod in forging it flat. So 3/4" diameter would yeild about a 1.5" wide blade with 3/16" to 5/32" spine.
I love 1/2" W1 drill rod and use it constantly. I make straight razors, and my forged blanks are about 3/4" wide, 1/4" thick at the spine and maybe a little less than 1/8" on the edge. I'm workin' on getting that thinner. 
I use Parks #50 to quench W1 and 1084, and Parks AAA on the occasional O1 blade. Even with the Parks quench, there are some slight traces of a hamon in the thick spine area. I never crack blades in my quench oils, something I doubt would be the case in water. It was well worth the $10 or $15 per gallon that I paid for the quench oils.
Happy forging,
Josh
I use Parks #50 to quench W1 and 1084, and Parks AAA on the occasional O1 blade. Even with the Parks quench, there are some slight traces of a hamon in the thick spine area. I never crack blades in my quench oils, something I doubt would be the case in water. It was well worth the $10 or $15 per gallon that I paid for the quench oils.
Happy forging,
Josh