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04-09-2015, 10:36 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Kansas
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Help understanding 1095 steel
Hello. First post for me so be gentle. I see there is a lot written in this forum about 1095 steel but haven't seen it described as 1095 spring steel. I assume that 1095 spring has been already hardened and tempered. I have a sheet of .039 spring steel and am thinking about turning it into fine slicing knives for kitchen use. Good idea or bad?
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04-09-2015, 10:39 AM
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Steel Addict
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: San Antonio Texas
Posts: 163
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Any of the 10xx series of steels are called "spring steels". 1060 1075 1080 1095.
If you buy 1095 from a knife supply house, it will usually always come cold rolled annealed. Soft, ready to work on. Must be hardened.
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04-09-2015, 10:46 AM
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Skilled
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Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Alabama
Posts: 554
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The spring steel rolls like that are too soft to make a knife with. Not to mention, at that thickness it would be rather flimsy. I have thought about getting some for making Damascus. The more layer one starts with the fewer folds.
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04-09-2015, 11:02 AM
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Founding Member / Moderator
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Wauconda, WA
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QUOTE: I assume that 1095 spring has been already hardened and tempered.
It has, but its been hardened and tempered with the intent of being a spring and not a blade. Springs are much softer than blades. You could redo the heat treatment on that steel and harden it enough to be a good blade but there are probably easier ways to make a kitchen knife.
But, experimenting is what we do and nothing teaches like experience. There isn't much work in shaping that thin spring steel into a small kitchen knife so why not just do it? It isn't as hard as a blade should be but it will still cut if you sharpen it. As James said, I expect you will find it to be too flexible but then again maybe not if you make your blades short enough to be a bit stiff . No harm in trying ....
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04-09-2015, 12:15 PM
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Steel Addict
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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Where is this .039" 1095 you are mentioning? You're getting two different answers here. If you buy 1095 from a knife supply house, like Aldo or USA Knife, the steel does not come hardened. It is about 22 HRC or maybe a bit more. I dont' recall seeing 1095 that thin, tho.
Again, any of the 10xx series steels are called "spring" steel. That does not mean that the steel is already hardened to a spring temper. They aren't. They come butter soft and must be hardened to be of any use.
Now if you found some 1095 that had been slated for use in a spring, which it sounds like that may be the case because I am not familiar with .039" 1095, it MAY be hardened to a spring temper already. In which case you would need to heat treat it to higher hardness level for knife use.
.039" is mighty thin for any knife. But can be done.
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04-09-2015, 01:34 PM
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Join Date: Jun 2002
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From his description I took him to mean he has some shim stock. So, Charlie, if the steel is currently blue then you have shim stock which is already hardened to a spring temper and what I said about using it should be correct. But, if the steel is the usual silvery steel color (or dull grey if it has oxidized a bit) then it is more likely in an annealed state and would need to be heat treated to be of any use as a knife ....
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07-13-2015, 10:52 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 5
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Take a pair of plyers to the edge. If it bends easy it's annealed, if it springs back it's been hardened to a SPRING temper(around 40+ Rockwell) which is still not hard enough for a knife.
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1095, bee, blade, blades, cold, damascus, edge, first post, heat, heat treat, heat treatment, kitchen, kitchen knife, knife, knife supply, knives, make, making, post, steel, supply, temper, thickness |
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