water/brine quenching 1084

ScottRoush

ScottRoush

Joined
Jan 10, 2010
Messages
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Galladuin's post on 1095 got me to thinking... Since 1084 is considered a shallow hardening steel... is brine a valid alternative to using 'fast' oils? especially since i'm starting to clay coat for a hamon? i understand that this increases my chances of warping/cracking etc.. i guess i'm just wondering if others do this on a regular basis. also... when using a 'brine'.... are there any salt concentrations or salt types that work better?
 
1084 is not a shallow hardening steel. The Mn in 1084 actually makes it a deep hardening steel. You won't get any spectacular hamon with 1084 because of this. If you're chasing hamon, stick with 1095/W-1/W-2. Quenching 1084 in water more than likely won't get you anything but a pile of cracked blades.

-d
 
got this from Cashen's sticky:

'All of the 10XX steels are shallow hardening, none will do anything but get soft by air cooling, as all they will do is form pearlite. All are technically "water hardening" steels in thicker sections due to their lower hardenability. So I would prefer not to call 1084 a deeper hardening steel since it is one of the shallowest hardening, just 1095 is even more shallow hardening due to less Mn. It is kind of like saying a tortoise is a fast animal simply because it beat a snail in a foot race.'

i suppose it's all about different techniques and different degrees because there are some fine looking hamons on 1084 blades posted online in various places... and there are various posts indicating a superior hamon on 1084 when brine is used versus oil and that this also reduces the chances of breaking by disrupting the vapor jacket along the surface when quenched (as opposed to simply using water).

i dunno.. just what i read. hoping to get some folks experience with this...
 
You wont get a hamon with 1084 like you would with other steels but you can still a pretty nice one. Water will up your chances for a good hamon no doubt..
We water quench all the time. This is some of the things we do..
*Finish to a finer grit than normal before quenching
* Use good distilled or rain water. Tap water has minerals that add variables.
* Make sure the water isnt cold (ask me how I know :p)
*Leave a little more meat on the edge. I find that this one is very important!
* Get to the tempering oven fast!
Water just takes more finese than oil. There is still no faster quench(generally speaking) than water or brine and its still the cheapest by far :D This is not bragging at all because there are much better heat treaters out there than me but we dont have much of a fail rate at all with water. Low enough that its not an issue. I dont use water all the time. I just had to oil quench a 1084 blade because I ground it too thin. I knew that was asking for trouble. You will lose one sooner or later but its just steel, they make more of it everyday :thumbup:
 
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