- Joined
- Nov 20, 2008
- Messages
- 1,855
If I also may 'axe'; what steels do you choose to forge and why. I've manually controlled my forge temps +/- 10°F for 45 minutes so I'm not afraid of soak times. So far I've forged 5160, 1095 and CruForge V and a bit of 01.
To elaborate on my experience a bit, I do like 5160 for larger choppers and camp type knives. Typically do 3 normalizing cycles, double or triple quench, and double temper at 350 - 400. Have had good results and decent grain size.
with 1095, I like forging it and have had good edge results, trying various quenchants including brine, and canola oil. I just picked up a pail of Houghton Quench K today so I think my stress level will go down and success level will go up significantly.
CruForge V I nly recieved a little while ago and have made one complete knife with it but so far it seems to be a decent steel, if a little 'over' hardening. an edge quench resulted in almost a completely hardened tang, save for an inch or so at the very end. This stuff doesn't produce any scale whatsoever, but does produce a serious layer of decarb.
O1 I tried to do a couple of integral knives out of drill rod but was not very successful. I can still make some sort of knife out of the blades but not what I intended.
Last edited:
