I’ve been experimenting with o1 for a while and made a small skinner out of it. I brought it to non magnetic and held it there for about 10 minutes and quenched in parks aaa. I tempered the blade at 425 for an hour let air cool and retempered at 400 for an hour. I read this process in an online article. Test broke the blade and it snapped very easily and has a very unusual grain in my opinion. Any hel or tips are much appreciated thank you
The grain is shiny and seems very course
Yikes! 😲 Yes that blade was overheated, the grain is huge. Try to never go much over 1475°F with O1, but a short soak is almost always beneficial so long as the temp is right with O1. I don't know the source of the article what recommended 400°F after a 425°F temper but it makes no sense at all. It would essentially accomplish nothing, the good news is that being totally ineffective, it wouldn't hurt anything either, other than wasting electricity.
Would nonmagnetic be over 1475 I don’t have any means to show actual temp right now, and would just one temper be sufficient or would I be better off doing another at a lower temp say around 300 possibly
Hello James. Yes 1475 would be over non magnetic. Kevin can correct me if I am wrong, but the blade will start being non magnetic around 1410. I do two tempers at two hours each at the same temp. As Kevin stated tempering at a lower temp after the first temper sequence is pretty much ineffective.
One way to judge temperature is to use salt. Salt melts at 1475. Put a small pile on the blade and when it melts you are at 1475. Try to keep the salt out of the direct flame by using a muffle. Square tube that goes in the forge and you can put the blade inside it.
Brion
If you have no means of showing actual temperature, probably my best advice may not be what you want to hear. But with all the information you have provided, the easiest solution is to switch to a steel that is better suited to your setup. The Currie point of iron (nonmagnetic) is 1414°F to be exact. O-1 is not a beginner's steel, it really does require some good temperature regulation and a controlled soak time to engage its potential carbon in solution without overdoing things.
1075, 1080 or 1084 all have a massive range of temperatures from which you can quench and get a successful hardening, with 1414°F being right in the middle of them, with no soaking necessary. I really believe it would be worth your while to switch to one of these steels to learn the ins and outs of forge heat treating.
I have been working with O-1 for around 30 years now and I still won't heat treat it in a forge, it is too good of a steel not to tap its full with tighter controls.
Thank you for the info I have 1084 being shipped currently I just had some o1 from another project leftover to mess with while I was waiting on my order
