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I would not recommend either 440C or 1095 for heat treating in a forge. The problem with 440C is as Ray explained above. The 1095 has problems due to being high carbon steel that's above 0.85% carbon. Steels with that much carbon need a soak of 5-10 minutes at about 1450-1475?. You might be able to do it in a gas forge if you're lucky but you probably will overheat the steel and put too much carbon into solution in the austenite. That can give you a problem with retained austenite that will have to be corrected later. If you stick with a steel that starts out around 0.84% carbon you can put all the carbon into solution in the austenite and not have a problem. The same with a hypoeuticoid steel that has less than about 0.75% carbon, something like 5160. You can heat them up to just a little over non-magnetic, hold a half minute and quench.
Yes, there are ways to deal with retained austenite after quenching but it's best to avoid it.
Doug
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