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With the level of V and Cr present, the extra C doesn't really apply, as it will be locked up in carbide.

A topic that is mostly opinion reliant, but what the heck I have two pennies in my pocket as well. I think anybody who has dedicated themselves to the craft, in order to make sure that every blade they make has to be better than the last, even if it costs them money at times, can call...

Hold on! I just looked at your picture again and noticed the toggle switch and electrical cord on that unit. These normally don't have anything electrical, so I would guess that this is one of the delux models with and automatic unloader, if so I would be all over that thing! The average...

I just refurbished a 4JR unit and, while it is heavy, it is not that heavy; a young man, with a good back, could heft it into your car. The weight quoted by BRYSTAR no doubt includes the crating, packaging and accessories. That being said- don't move it with the weights on the unit. The 1JR...

The carbon, iron and acid confusion had me reread things a couple of times as well Ed. Don’t worry Mark, these are all very understandable confusions, that I myself would have had when I was getting started with them. I thought I would add a note here because I have a lot of hours logged with a...

The NJSB hardening numbers are good but I do not understand the normalizing recommendations. 1650°F yes, that is what I recommended to them years ago, the 1500°F isn't too bad but you can also drop right down to 1475°F without it and save some time. The one I don't like is the 1350°F, it falls...

I cringe everytime I read those far too high numbers. The only reason to go this high is if the steel is carbon locked through extensive annealing, and that is why I recommended the normalization to NJSB... yeah that was me. When Aldo originally got the business going, my phone would often...

Never place blades flat, on their sides, on any surface, during a heat treatment operation. Unless you are shooting for warped blades. The less material you have touching that blade during tempering, the better. When I have taught classes that had small ovens that required blades to overlap...

A lot will depend on what you do to test the edge. I am not a fan of the brass rod test, as it actually doesn't even tell people anything about what they think it does. What a heavily banded edge will do is sharpen, and wear, differentially giving it a micro-serrated effect. This will make it...

It would come down to how one defines "homogenous", as technically none of the phases, aside from very high temp austenite, is homogenous. When casually observed under the microscope martensite looks like a very uniform structure, but on higher magnification one sees the individual lathe...

There is a rather big difference between 1095 and O-1. 1095 will be the easiest to HT as an after thought.

A great primer that I often recommend, and have used it as a textbook in classes that I have taught, is "Metallurgy Fundamentals" by Daniel Brandt. This book is about high school level in explaining things, and once read you will be able to move onto about any average metallurgy text. After...

Properly maintained, those oils can last you for years, for the advantages in producing quality blades and the shortest learning curve, it is one of the biggest bangs for your buck you can get as a knifemaker. There has been a lot of resistance over the years to this advice, but not a single...

You are very welcome. Oh, and yes I use my HT oven to temper. Very precise holds on temperature are even more important in tempering than in other heat treatment operations. For example, on W2 you can vary in a range of 50°F when hardening and still be successful, but as little as 20°F in...

Park Metallurgical, HeatBath #50- any 10XX, i.e. 1070, 1075, 1080, 1084, 1095, W-1, W-2, 15n20. Park Metallurgical, HeatBath AAA- alloys steels, (oil hardening), i.e. 52100, 80CrV2, 5160, O-1, L6. Yes, 15n20 is alloyed, but it is alloyed with nickel, which does little for depth of hardening...

I know a lot of people work with articulated features on the tang, but long ago I came up what a method of lapping the ends of the handle material that always gives me an airtight fit, so I have never needed the added features. If I am using spacers, I only incorporate them after I have the...

I have two words- coupling nuts. Regular nuts are limited in the amount of threads you have to work with, so I always keep a good supply of coupling nuts, #10,, #12 and 1/14", on hand. I cut them in half that make them more useable and double my money, at which point they have about twice to...

As you have probably already discovered, you can't sand, or even grind, it away, as it is integral to the makeup of the steel, and goes all the way through. If you want to lessen the effect, focus on those first three heats and avoid over-cycling in the lower ranges, which is what makes it...

It is alloy banding, and wow! It is a really heavy case of it! You can get rid of it with careful normalizing. I would be very curious to know what steel it is and exactly how you heat treated it, every heat from the time you received the steel. When traditionally poured steel is cooled in...

This is actually quite tame, compared to some of the sales pitches that I have encountered over the years; some, right here in the U.S. are almost legendary in their over the top ridiculousness. This has two very interesting qualities to the terminology, first much of the odd terms are the...