Feels good to finish one again!

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Looks really good.

How do you heat-treat the O-1? And are there any other steels you heat-treat yourself?
 
O1 Is easy to HT at home, and it's the only steel I do HT. Some makers get Evenheat or Paragon ovens and do their own stainless as it saves time from sending them out. I send all my stainless to Paul Bos as he does things with them (cryo quench) that I cannot do.

First you need firebricks and a heat source - I used Mapp Gas. I built up bricks to make the firebricks the right level for me so I could sit while holding the knife in the forge. I hollowed out 2 firebricks for mine but HT is limited to 5" and less blades. Next time I'll make a bigger one.

Once you have that ready you want to "equalize" the knife by warming it up to near non-magnetic but don't let it get non-magnetic. Then let it cool on it's own. Do this twice more and the O1 is equalized. Now heat it up evenly all the way to non-magnetic (I use a magnet to check it) and then quench in oil. I use olive oil. :) Once I check and the blade is non-magnetic it's already cooled too much to quench so heat it back up and then go straight into the oil.

Easy! :D

This is my old one - have not built a new one in my new shop yet.

brick_forge.jpg
 
Valkman,

Great info! By the way, how long does a small cannister of Mapp gas like the one pictured last?

Also, do you just pass the blade in and out to heat it, rather than just holding it stationary?

Is there a way to zone temper using this process?

Hope you don't tire of all the questions!

Thanks again.
 
No problem!

Mapp gas lasts much longer than I thought it would - keep an extra on hand but it'll do a number of knives.

You keep the blade in the heat but move it to try and keep it even. You'll find it's easy to have most heated up but not the tip (or the tip and not the back) so you have be carefull about that. I try to test with the magnet quickly but to hit a few places along the blade to make sure it's all at the right temp.

Yes there is! :) Refractory cement is the easiest way and I've used it a bunch. I put over the spine and down the sides a bit then heat the whole knife and quench. The cement will not allow the spine to cool as quickly as the rest so it stays softer. I've taken these blades and bent them 90 degrees and they did not break.

You can also just heat the whole blade and when you quench it just go in halfway down the blade. That's also easy and works the same. :)
 
Beautiful work Valkman.

Thanks for the links. My 12 year old son would like to get into knifemaking so I will print the info for him. Of course I will supervise the process. :)
 
Valkman,

Thanks again. Very informative.

Olive oil? My wife buys it and it seems like an expensive quenching oil. Does it work better than something like motor oil?

Thanks again.
 
All kinds of oil work - my wife found 2 big bottles pretty cheap so that's what I used. Tonight all I had was way oil for my mill so I used that! Whatever you use it'll last a long time!
 
All kinds of oil work - my wife found 2 big bottles pretty cheap so that's what I used. Tonight all I had was way oil for my mill so I used that! Whatever you use it'll last a long time!
Click to expand...

Did you take your website down? I was shopping around for knives, and noticed it wasn't working.
 
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