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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 08-09-2013, 08:46 PM
mitchmountain mitchmountain is offline
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what do you guys think of 1095?

I feel like I'm getting the hang of this knife making deal, no expert by any means but I'd like to start turning them out in number to get some repetition in, but still be able to get rid of them after I'm done, not just throw them in a drawer somewhere. I'd like a cheaper steel I can heat treat myself. I have a electric paragon kiln I can get up to 1700 F and can keep the heat pretty constant once I get to the desired temp. I have a bunch of knives ready in CPM 154 but I still need to do about 4 more before I send them off to be treated at Pete's heat treat. I've been looking at getting some 1095 and wonder what anyone with some experience can tell me about that steel, good bad and otherwise. And if there is a better choice within my parameters for being able to treat it myself( also looked at O1). Thanks in advance.

Mitch
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  #2  
Old 08-09-2013, 09:09 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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1095 is great but it's a little touchy. It needs a fast pro oil for quenching. It rusts fairly easily.

But, if you have a Paragon the O1 is the way to go. As long as you don't need a hamon line, O1 will do anything 1095 or 1084 will do and it will do it considerably better. In many ways, O1 may be the best all around carbon steel for knives - I love the stuff!

Anyway, try both and compare...


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  #3  
Old 08-09-2013, 10:01 PM
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BigCountry86 BigCountry86 is offline
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I use 1095 for most of my knives. The more you polish it the better it is. I take it down to an A45 on a trizact belt for a belt brushed finish or mirror polish
It and don't have much trouble with rust. If you look at my gallery 99 percent of the pictured blades are 1095. This is honestly nothing to do with
Preference though. Most of my customers won't buy anything but 1095 blades.
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  #4  
Old 08-09-2013, 10:03 PM
metal99 metal99 is offline
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My vote is O1 but it is a bit pricy compared to 1095. I have used 1084, 1095 and O1 a fair bit and honestly the O1 shines over the others. If O1 is out of the question I would go to 1084 before 1095 just for the ease of heat treating.


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  #5  
Old 08-09-2013, 10:04 PM
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BigCountry86 BigCountry86 is offline
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I would personally use 52100 or W2.
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  #6  
Old 08-10-2013, 12:38 AM
jmccustomknives jmccustomknives is offline
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It's kind of an apples and oranges thing for me. I typically don't use O-1, instead I use 52100. It always comes back to what I want to get out of the blade and what it is intended to be used for. Personally if I'm using 1095 I want to bring some kind of temper line out because that steel will do it. As far as an easy steel to forge and treat, 5160 is hard to beat.
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  #7  
Old 08-10-2013, 08:25 AM
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Fishbum2000 Fishbum2000 is offline
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I use 1095 and 440C stainless. I'm going to phase out the 1095 because it rusts fairly easy. The two aren't that much different in price, but the 440C seems a little harder to work. If you heat it for awhile it gets a little easier to work. I'm just starting out good though.

good luck,
Michael


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Old 08-10-2013, 09:43 AM
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Here is a site that will help you decide what steel you want to use click on any steel listed and it has the info you need to work with it . Book mark it and you will have ti for the future .

http://hudson-metals.com/

Sam


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  #9  
Old 08-10-2013, 10:56 AM
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Gary Mulkey Gary Mulkey is offline
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Choosing a favorite steel is a debate that could go on for a long time with many good choices.
For me 1095 is a little too finicky in the H/T to be a favorite. For day-to-day usage I prefer one with a more forgiving H/T like 1084 or 5160. The advantage to one like 1095 is in getting a hamon and for that I prefer W2.


Gary


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  #10  
Old 08-10-2013, 11:12 AM
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Fishbum2000 Fishbum2000 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Cro View Post
Here is a site that will help you decide what steel you want to use click on any steel listed and it has the info you need to work with it . Book mark it and you will have ti for the future .

http://hudson-metals.com/

Sam
Great info on this site. Thanks for posting


Michael


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  #11  
Old 08-18-2013, 09:06 PM
mitchmountain mitchmountain is offline
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I got my first blAde made from some 1095 I got from Jantz. The heat treat went ok, kind of. I used motor oil and was worried it didn't harden because it didn't pass the file test, but when I tried to drill the tang I found out I had definitely had hardened b/c I got nowhere with the drill. I read on another forum there may have been some surface decarborization and that's why the file scratched it. I have an old parogon kiln and it takes a long time to hit 1500, the time it spent above 1475 to 1500 was definitely longer than 10-15 minutes. Could this have caused more carbon to burn off than if the kiln ramped up faster? What do you guys with more smarts in in this stuff think?

Mm
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  #12  
Old 08-19-2013, 06:55 AM
WBE WBE is offline
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You will not fully harden 1095 using motor oil as a quench. You will end up with a mixed product of martensite and pearlite which will resist being drilled or filed, but will not hold an edge as a knife.
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  #13  
Old 08-19-2013, 08:09 AM
mitchmountain mitchmountain is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WBE View Post
You will not fully harden 1095 using motor oil as a quench. You will end up with a mixed product of martensite and pearlite which will resist being drilled or filed, but will not hold an edge as a knife.
Can you explain how a steel will resist being drilled or filed but will not hold an edge, I don't understand how that works.

MM
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  #14  
Old 08-19-2013, 08:16 AM
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Gary Mulkey Gary Mulkey is offline
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Mitch,

Think of it this way: Since the steel is mixed martensite & pearlite then it is a mixture of hard & soft. Something as wide as a file or drill bit is going to hit both hard & soft and be resisted though something as thin as a cutting edge will have spots of nothing but pearlite which won't hold an edge.

This is a very simple explanation but hopefully it makes sense.

Gary


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Last edited by Gary Mulkey; 08-19-2013 at 08:21 AM.
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  #15  
Old 08-19-2013, 11:39 AM
WBE WBE is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchmountain View Post
Can you explain how a steel will resist being drilled or filed but will not hold an edge, I don't understand how that works.

MM
Ideally, to get maximum hardness from 1095, you need a quench that will drop the temp from 1475? to under 900? in about .6/.8 of one second. Only a brine quench will do this, but there are a few oils that will come close enough to produce a good blade that will retain it's edge as one would expect of 1095. Parks #50 is one, I believe Maxim has another, and even Canola oil will work in an acceptable manor, but motor oil is only good in your engine.
1084/85 is much easier to get a good HT with, and will greatly out perform poorly HTed 1095, although it too requires a fast quench oil to be at it's best.
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