1095 blade

S

steveba

Joined
Jan 7, 1999
Messages
89
I seem to be working backwards here but I have a friend who wants a blade made from 1095. Since I've only worked with stainless and tool steels I am wondering how this steel grinds, best blade length, durability, heat treat, etc. I know this will throw most into the dark ages but I am curious. Anyone out there use 1095?

Some specific details then questions...
stock removal blade
~5" hunter ~9" overall
micarta handle
1/8" - 3/16" thick 1 1/4" wide
brass guard
kydex sheath

How does 1095 work? I imagine it's easier than A2... possibly similar to O1?
Does 1095 take a high polish? Do you clear/powder coat?
How does it solder?
I imagine it rusts like O1. Leather or Kydex sheath?
My friend is a weekend user doing small camp chores, dressing game, fishing, etc. I recommended D2 & 440C... turned down for 1095.

Thanks for any info.

Steve
 
If I were doing it, I would clay temper it in the Japanese style to give it a cool hamon! I think knives.com has an article by Engath on how to do this. I would also go with a Kydex sheath, of course. Pancake style, two piece so he can get it gunky and take it apart to clean fully. If you want to collaborate on the sheath, then let me know. I'm sure we could work something out...

------------------
My Custom Kydex Sheath pagehttp://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Lab/1298/knifehome.html
Palmer College of Chiropractic
On Two Wheels
 
Grinds fairly easy and I like it on a blade under 8". Heattreat by bringing to critical (nonmagnetic) and quench in oil. I handsatin finish to 600 or 800 grit. Can be coldblued (I use oxphoblue from brownells),blackoxided, parkerized. Being high carbon it can rust. You can patina the blade by slicing citrus, fairly rustinhibiting. Hope this helps.
Dave Ellis, ABS, Mastersmith http://www.mastersmith.com

------------------
 
CHECK WITH MR. BOYER OF BOYER KNIVES. ALL HE USES IS 1095. HIS WEBSITE CAN BE FOUND ON THE LINKS PAGE UNDER CUSTOM KNIFE MAKERS.
 
1095: Iron, manganese, and carbon (.95%) Easy to work. To heat treat: Bring to non-magnetic (approx 1550) and quench in a warm light viscoity OIL. Water or brine is too harsh. Chances are very high that if quenched in water or brine from critical temp, in anything less than a 1/2" cross section, you will have cracking/breakage occur. A high percentage of 1095 blades that have been water/brine quenched will experience premature failure due to the formation of "micro" cracks that will appear as tiny black lines once sanding has reached a 400 grit finish. These cracks are so small that buffing will appear to remove them, however all that has been done is to "smear" the surface to cover them up. Generally a higher degree of toughness can be achieved by edge quenching to approx 1/3 the blade width. If completly quenched, the blade should be tempered to AT LEAST 425 to achieve a good blend of edge retention and toughness.

http://www.mtn-webtech.com/~caffrey

------------------
Ed Caffrey
"The Montana Bladesmith"

 
working with 1095 is pretty easy, it's a little bit harder than working with mild steel. it silver solders good, and is easy to polish. gring your edge bevels with 36grt ceramic, than gring the rest of your knife. take it progressively up to about 60grt. heat treat, then use you belt sander to sand from 60grt to 800grt try to keep the change in grits suttle, example- 36grt -40grt. next polish with green rouge. the rouge will also slow down rusting quite a bit. make sure you take any rust off the tang before you epoxy your handles to it or it will rust. micarta handles will look nice on it, but i would go with some kind of stabalized wood. and use a brass guard.
 
Thanks all for the information. I am still awaiting my steel so this helps form a battle plan. After the initial heat treat what temperature works best for the draw down? I am thinking 57-59RC should do the job. Do you need a double or triple draw down or is one sufficient? Do you stress release before the initial heat treat? I have seen forgers who heat treat then smack the spline on an anvil to break the blade if there are stress cracks... I'll probably try that since this will be my first home heat treat.

Mag44, why the small changes in grit sizes? And why go only to 60G before the heat treat? Just curious.

I'm checking Boyer Blades as I type.

Thanks again,

Steve
 
the small changes i refer to are in moving up in grits. i mean just go up to the next possible grit like from 36grt- 40grt, that's the easyest way to get out the previous grit marks. only go to 60grt before the heat treat becuase the heat treat will wreck your finish if you don't.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top