what do i do now

[dms p.a.w.]

I have been using alot of O-1 to make knives this year, trying to forge instead of do my typical stock removal. So the maintenance super at work gave me four pieces of 1" round stock scrape about 8" long and told me that it was O-1. After I have rough forged a Knife out of one, another maintenance man at work showed me the bill on this steel and it turns out to be 18-4-1. I don't even know what that is, or if I have just wasted four and a half hours. Can any one tell me what this kind of steel is and if I should scrap the knife or continue with it? Google says that it is a t-type tool steel, that is tungsten based. It sounds like it would make a good knife but I would not where to begin with hardening,or tempering.

 

[tattooedfreak]

Yep, sounds like it would with .6 - .8 % C. It is a tungsten based High speed steel used when parts with high abrasive resistance are needed. Only problem is the heat treat, you need to get it HOT from what I can find, up to 1250c then oil quench to 425 then air quench. Or you can salt bath to 625, then oil quench to 425. Tempering is even better. 350 -400 c but if you can get higher say to 600, you can actually make it harder. or you can sub temper to -80, then heat. If you do it all right, you should get a hardness of 63-66 AFTER tempering. I recommend sending it out

http://www.taylorspecialsteels.co.uk/pages/t1/heat-treat.htm
http://www.wisetool.com/designation/toolsteel.htm

 

[dms p.a.w.]

Thanks, I think I will send them out. The one I have forged so far is 19and a quarter inches long do, you think that they should be smaller because of how hard it gets?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

What you have is commonly called T-1 steel . It is a high temp tool steel with 18% tungsten, 4% chromium, and 1% vanadium. Carbon is nominally around .70%. It takes a hard and sharp edge, but will require a special HT.

 

[dms p.a.w.]

I have been doing some research on this steel and have read that it is for high temp applications. This makes sense because it is so hard to move in the forge. I have found that I have to heat it much more than O-1 to get it to move well. I am going to call Brad over at Peters on monday. I was reading that the edge has to be .15" to prevent warping, so I will have to change that before I send it. I usually leave the edge around one sixteenth or .06 when I harden.

 

[Tait]

I was reading that the edge has to be .15" to prevent warping...

That's a new one to me - most of my reading is that steel has to be only about .020 to limit warping.

 

[dms p.a.w.]

That will teach me to read without my glasses. Read that on usknifemaker. It Is .015. thanks for correction.