w1 heat treat

[pike3e]

I have forged a knife out of w1 round bar and am nearing heat treating. What are makers using to quench. I know the w stands for water hardening but was wondering if this is the prefered method for blades.

 

[mete]

Fast oil is safer and for a thin blade works well.

 

[JasonSCarter]

yep go to mcmaster carr and order yourself a gallon of 11 second quench oil. works beautifully for 10x and w series (W1 is Tool Steel Grade 1095 ITts OUTSTANDING STUFF!)

Jason

 

[Phil Dwyer]

I just posted this in a W1 for sale thread, but it might get read more here.

Can anyone tell me the alloy distinctions between W1 and W2?

Also, what qualities differ between the two in forging and finishing?

 

[JasonSCarter]

W1
Element Weight %
C 0.70-1.50
Mn 0.10-0.40
Si 0.10-0.40
Cr 0.15
Ni 0.20
Mo 0.10
W 0.15
V 0.10
Cu 0.20
P 0.025
S 0.025


W2
Element Weight %
C 0.85-1.50
Mn 0.10-0.40
Si 0.10-0.40
Cr 0.15
Ni 0.20
Mo 0.10
W 0.15
V 0.15-0.35
Cu 0.20
P 0.025
S 0.025

 

[JasonSCarter]

They forge and finish pretty much the same, but W2's hamon's really pop due to the little extra vanadium. They move easy under the hammer. like O1 you can "fix" a bad heat treat by normalizing and going at it again. W1 is cheap, simple, and I love to play with it.

Jason

 

[Mike Krall]

I just posted this in a W1 for sale thread, but it might get read more here.

Can anyone tell me the alloy distinctions between W1 and W2?

Also, what qualities differ between the two in forging and finishing?

Phil,

The spread of carbon shown for W1/W2 is historical. As well as many of the other elements like Cr, Mo, Ni, W. Mostly what a person finds is C 0.96-1.05% with none of the elements I listed, other than what would be called trace amounts. W2 has Vanadium in significant amounts for grain growth retarding... 0.15-0.3%... W1 does not.

I don't do hamons so I don't know if the V in W2 is a major contributor to "activity" or not. There are certainly other steels without V that have significant hamon effects.

Mike