heat treating

[vander]

Im curious where i could send a blae of 1095to be heat treated. I finally got some and cut out a blade... didnt want to wait till this summer so its all been done with hand tools for the most part. but Im a lil shy to try and heat treat it myself because i dont want to mess it up...

[Ray Rogers]

There are only a few places (individuals, really) who will heat treat carbon steel blades. Try a Search to see if you can find the name of one, it's been discussed many times before. Or, someone who knows will come along sooner or later and respond.

However, I wanted to say that I understand how you feel about that first blade and you don't want to mess it up/ My first blade was 1095 and I talked a very well known heat treating outfit into doing the HT on it even though they normally didn't work with carbon steels. Snapped off the first time I used it. Moral of the story, get used to the idea that making a blade by hand takes some time and take responsibility for the HT yourself. If someone's going to mess it up, it might as well be you and you'll learn a lot more that way .....

[Kostoglotov]

Do you have a forge?

If you fill out your location, someone might invite you to their shop so you can HT it yourself

I believe that peters ht's cs blades

[Frankallen]

Delbert Ealy will do it for you!! Just e-mail him.....



http://www.ealyknives.com/



Frank

[vander]

No no forge. I was gonna wait to start this adventure until school was over for summer when i could go home and try to figure something out... its pretty rough due to having mainly files haha. but I will shoot him an email. Thanks
Vance

[Ed Tipton]

Vance,
You didn't say how far along you were on the knife, but since you are concerned about the heat treatment, I'm assuming you do not have the scales in place yet. If not, then before you send it off why not try to do your own heat treatment. It's really easy to do, and all that is required is a means of hardening the blade evenly and either a toaster oven or your kitchen oven. The thing to know here is that you cannot hurt the blade any by trying it yourself. if your attempt fails, the blade could still be sent off....no harm...no foul.

I was apprehensive at first, but after trying it, and having success at doing it, my confidence level went through the roof. It is a great confidence builder to know that you can alter the characteristics of the blade yourself, and do it with enough control for it to be satisfactory. I work exclusively with high carbon steels, and I am not an expert, I've only made aboutfifty knives, but so far, all of them are in service and are performing well. I have had no problem with either hardness or toughness. There are other threads on this forum that go into detail as to how to do it yourself.

[vander]

Well I emailed Delbert and havent gotten a reply... there anyone else you guys know of?
Vance

[john smith]

Vance, What sizie is the blade. I treted my first couple of small knives that had a small
1 1/2" to 3" b;ade wit a oxy/acetylene torch, quenched and temper in oven.
I think they came out pretty good and was proud of what I acheived.
1095 is not the best steel for rookies because of the time temp curve but it is doable
just be quick on your quench. have fun and good luck.

[vander]

The blade is right at about 4 1/4" long. I really dont have accesss to oxy acetylene right now. thats my main problem or id just go for it.
Vance

[CWKnifeman]

Vance send me an e-mail and I will try to help you out.
Curtis

[6T7L71CPE]

You could give Lee Oates a call. I've had him do two O1 blades for me.

http://www.bearclawknives.com/#HeatTreat

[WBE]

Originally Posted by john smith

Vance, What sizie is the blade. I treted my first couple of small knives that had a small
1 1/2" to 3" b;ade wit a oxy/acetylene torch, quenched and temper in oven.
I think they came out pretty good and was proud of what I acheived.
1095 is not the best steel for rookies because of the time temp curve but it is doable
just be quick on your quench. have fun and good luck.

It is not how fast you get it in the quench, it is how fast the oil will cool it. Very few oils will do a fast enough quench for 1095 to get as hard as needed, and the file test will not tell you if it did. None of the oils will get it full hard. Only brine will do that, but Parks #50 oil will get it hard enough for a good blade. That is why it is not for beginners without proper heat or proper oil. 1095 is simply not user friendly.

[john smith]

Originally Posted by WBE

It is not how fast you get it in the quench, it is how fast the oil will cool it. Very few oils will do a fast enough quench for 1095 to get as hard as needed, and the file test will not tell you if it did. None of the oils will get it full hard. Only brine will do that, but Parks #50 oil will get it hard enough for a good blade. That is why it is not for beginners without proper heat or proper oil. 1095 is simply not user friendly.

I know that 1095 is not the best for beginners. and yes the proper quench has to cool the steel at the corect rate and 1095 has to cool fast. But you do not want to hesitate when you remove you blade from the heat source or have to move to far to the quench and let the temp of you blade drop. I'm just a rookie knife maker an hobbiest, and from what I have read canola oil will make a decent quench, maybe not the best but it will work.
If we all uesd brine it would be perfect. I don't mean to sound rude but you have commented on myself and other knife makers using quenches other then brine or parks 50so I'm assuming you only use brine and your steel temp is exact and every thing is perfect and you never have a flaw every time you make a knife.
I'm not going to go back and forth and argue with you. You gave your opinion and I gave mine, thank you
I have not had the nerve yet to take a chance on cracking a blade that I have spent 40 or 50 hrs making by hand to quench in brine and right know I do not have $150.00 for
parks 50. I do greatly appreciate yours and everyones help and advice here and have learned alot, and would not have got this far if this network was not here to help us rookies.

[WBE]

I don't use 1095 anymore. I was just pointing out that the one second rule is for the quench, and not for getting it to the quench. Yes, it is very important to get it into the quench ASAP, but you would be hard pressed to do it in under a second. And yes again, canola is your best choice other than Parks. Canola will do a pretty good job, but if I were selling those 1095 bladed knives, I would invest in the Parks. Personally, I would not use brine on a blade that I have spent hours making. I have just pointed out that, that is about the only quench that will take 1095 to it's hardest condition, which implies what ever is used must be very fast in it's cooling rate, or one is wasteing his time with this steel. I am sorry you took offense at my post, but those are the facts. 1084 is much more forgiving and will match, or surpass the performance of 1095 that is not properly HTed, and 1095 is just not an easy steel to HT and get right, without the proper heat or quench medium. Too many beginners start with 1095 because of the carbon content, but have no idea of what they are really dealing with. The carbon content means very little if you cannot control it's potential. Again, I am sorry you took offense, but your post read as though the importance was the time getting in the quench, rather than the cooling time of the quench. You will do fine with canola, but I would strongly suggest Parks #50, if you are selling your knives. You may sleep better knowing you have done your best for your customer.

[john smith]

Wbe, I apoligize for the way I come across. I know there are several of of 10xx steels that are lot better for a novice maker to use includng myself.
I started out using 1095 steel not knowing the complete facts of 1095. I continue to use this steel at this time. I continue to read and try to understand what I can and ask questions. Just because this is a difficult steel to treat does not meen that one should shy away from it , they should try and learn and see what will work for them . I do understand that there are quench medias that are better for some steels then other. I know in the near future I will try a 1080 steel which will be better suited. and no matter what type of steel you use if you don't have a good quench and heat treat you don't have a good blade. Again thank you and my apoligy's