Hello All - So I have made quite a few leather skiving knives out of O1 steel and apart from the second mess of a knife, they all came out pretty good. What I would like to try now is D2 steel hoping that it will provide not only the razor sharpness of O1 but would also help to keep the edge longer.
I got myself a used laboratory electric muffle furnace capable of sustaining 2100 f (for free!). It’s a small furnace 4x4x6 but large enough for my small blades, and well, it was free.
Plan is to shape as usual then harden at 1825f for 30-45 mins in a stainless steel wrap. Pull out of oven and open bag. Let rest until about 50-60 degrees and then double temper @ 400f for two hours each cycle.
Does this sound reasonable? Is there anything that I should be aware of before jumping into it? I hear that some people preheat. Is this necessary? I would like to shoot for around 60 rockwell.
As always, thanks for your time guys.
I got myself a used laboratory electric muffle furnace capable of sustaining 2100 f (for free!). It’s a small furnace 4x4x6 but large enough for my small blades, and well, it was free.
Plan is to shape as usual then harden at 1825f for 30-45 mins in a stainless steel wrap. Pull out of oven and open bag. Let rest until about 50-60 degrees and then double temper @ 400f for two hours each cycle.
Does this sound reasonable? Is there anything that I should be aware of before jumping into it? I hear that some people preheat. Is this necessary? I would like to shoot for around 60 rockwell.
As always, thanks for your time guys.