Normalizing and Annealing?

Lerch

Well-Known Member
I have been using some 1095 carbon steel from Aldo and as per instructions on the board here i have been normalizing it in a 3 cycle process before i HT. What i have been doing is heating it to 1450deg and as soon as it reaches temp i take it out and allow it to cool to black in calm air. then i place back in the oven and heat it to 1425deg two more times, cooling the same as before.

my question is do i need to anneal the steel before HT ? i had read where someone was doing this, heating it to 1100deg and allowing to cool in oven to room temp?? Or should i just normalize for the third time, cool to room temp, and then run straight to the HT ? i have been HT'ing at 1450deg for soak time of 5min and then straight into parks 50 oil heated to 110deg.

thanks
steve
 
I do not anneal. I find that normalization once or twice after forging will make the steel soft enough to drill and grind. If I don't finish forging out the blade in a session I end by normalizing the part of the work that has come under the hammer to relieve any stresses that have built up while it was worked. After I do the rough grinding on the blade I normalize again three times, make sure I don't overheat during the process, before I quench harden the blade.

Doug
 
well i am not forging my steel, it is 1/8" flat stock from Aldo the steel baron. someone told me that it might still be a good idea to normalize it as well. just trying to make the best finished product that i can
 
If the steel seems to be difficult to grind then you might try normalizing or annealing it to see if that will make it easier. I still recommend that you normalize the steel three times before quenching to relieve any stress that might be in the steel and to make sure that the steel has nice fine grain. If the tang is hard to drill you can try heating it up to color with a torch and letting it air cool to soften it. You will have to put the hardened blade in a can of wet sand or between steel or heavy brass plates to act as a heat sink to not over temper the blade.

Doug
 
Okay just so i am clear on everything this is what i have been doing so far, i just wanna make sure i am doing this right here and ensuring i have the best blade i can from the stock removal

After grinding the profile i drill for my pins or bolts, then i usually hollow out the tang on a 1/2" wheel and 60grit belt
I then grind the blade down to about .050-.060" thick at the cutting edge (instead of .030" like i have done for stainless steels) to allow for the scale and decarb removal
I then normalize the blade in 3 cycles, heating to 1450deg and cooling to black then heating to 1425deg and 1400deg once each and cooling to black
After the blade is cool i then apply clay as i want for the differential heat treatment and proceed with HT of 1450deg with a soak time of 5min and then immediatly quench in Parks 50 oil heated to 110deg
Then i would temper the blade at 400deg for 2 hrs

I just wanna make sure i am creating the finest grain structure, best edge holding and overall best knife i can work with out of the stock material.

Oh PS the steel is 1095

thanks
steve
 
Sounds good but I would do at least two tempering cycles allowing the steel to cool to near room temperature between and a third cycle for insurance won't hurt even if it doesn't help.

Doug
 
thank you,

yes i am planning on doing at least 2 temper cycles, thanks for the info, i just wanna make sure i am doing things right!
 
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