David,
I am still new at this game and learning myself but here's my two cents worth. If you decide on O-1, I would hold it at 1450/1500 degrees for twenty minutes before quenching. I have used several different oils to quench from used motor oil to peanut oil and haven't seen any large difference. I do think it helps to quench in five gallons of oil rather than a small amount. You may have access to that much used oil there. I would also heat the oil to 120-130 degrees first. The easiest way is to heat a piece of sacrificial metal and place it in the quench tank/bucket. I would used an interupted quench (completely immerse the blade momentarily and remove, repeat,etc. until it reachs room temp. The main idea is to bring it from critical to room temp in less than 15 sec. but not so fast as to cause shock in the steel.

I would do a double temper of two hours at 400 degrees. For this you can use your kitchen stove (as long as your wife doesn't object).

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

Gary