52100 steel Oil quench from 1525 to 1600 F. Harden, cool and let the blade settle for a day (24 hours). Re-harden twice more at the same interval. Cutting edge toughness is fantastic. Draw at about 350 F, three times, and the spine may be torch drawn to spring temper. Ed Fowler gets incredible cutting and flexibility with this method.
What are you using the spring for? if it is for slipjoints I am tempering O-1 at 900 degrees to get a spring temper.. 52100 is a ball bearing steel, I would be tempted to make my blade from 52100 and my spring from a 10xx series...
W-2 and 1095 make great springs. Harden at 1500deg and quench in oil. I temper with a torch. Clean up the spring and carefully heat it till it is a light blue, then quench in oil again. I do this 3 times and have never had a spring brea.