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Michael I think we've overwhelmed you with information.
When I first started making knives in the early 90's I used O1 exclusively because that is what a certain knife store sold. I heat treated it in a forge, charcoal forge. The knives were quite hard, but not optimal. Without a temperature controlled oven you won't get optimal performance from any steel, but you can get good results nevertheless.
Please keep that in mind, plus you picked a picky steel to start with. You will get good results by following the advice of other posters here and I am not an expert at 52100 as I rarely used it except in an industrial situation. I was a heat treater at a machine shop and was put into that position simply because I had a lot of metallurgy experience from being a TIG welder and one of the best if I may be so bold. Also I made knives so they figured I knew all there is about HT. LOL
I wish you good luck in your new endeavor.
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