N.N
Well-Known Member
I'm still a little new to this and haven't had what most of you pros would consider a proper test of anything. But I've used some of my blades and they seem to work well, and I've not had any complaints yet so I've just kept going. But I thought I might post here and see if this all sounds about right, just to see what kind of reactions/replies I get.
I've recently done several 1095 blades. My heat treat method is the backyard firepit with a hair dryer, charcoal, magnet and canola oil etc...not very scientific, but has seemed to work. Meaning the file skates and such and all appears to be working.
For 3 blades that I'm working on 2 are 1095 from Jantz and one is 1084 from USAknifemaker, fully annealed. I heated to beyond magnetic and even tried to let them soak for a few minutes, but that's easier said than done in the backyard setup. Anyway, quench for 10 seconds check for straightness, quench for a bit longer to finish cooling. Take them inside and clean up for temper. This time I decided to temper a little higher. One 2 hour cycle at 425, then another at 500, both water quenching. This is my kitchen oven, so who knows about the actual temp, right. But I actually pulled them out at about 1 hour 35 on the second because I noticed they had turned blue at the edge. Blue is the upper end right? I was worried that it would be too much so I pulled it a little early. All three looked like this. I've not had anything turn blue in the temper yet.
After quench I finished the grind and etched one the 1095's in boiling vinegar and then cleaned it up. it's got a very prominent hamon line from just behind the tip, 1/2in from the edge parallel to about a 1/4in above the base at the plunge. The hamon followed exactly where the blue coloration was. I think it looks very nice. While I know that doesn't mean anything about proper heat treat, the last 1095 I did, didn't have this. The older one was only noticeable at the spine where it got darker (I would assume this means the older one got harder to the spine than this newest one).
So, Is there anything you can say about the blue temper color or the hamon? I guess I'm looking for a little affirmation here that I'm at least getting things close enough to correct or just to gain a little more knowledge about my own personal procedures. Or is this just another one of those, you have to break it an look at it under a microscope to tell anything type threads? If you think it will help, I can upload a picture of the hamon at this point. Let me know what you think.
EDIT: oh, and what I thought was wierd was that the blue temper color didn't go all the way up to the spine. As stated, it followed where the hamon was. Is this normal? This one is going to a close friend, so at least I might get some good feedback on it.
I've recently done several 1095 blades. My heat treat method is the backyard firepit with a hair dryer, charcoal, magnet and canola oil etc...not very scientific, but has seemed to work. Meaning the file skates and such and all appears to be working.
For 3 blades that I'm working on 2 are 1095 from Jantz and one is 1084 from USAknifemaker, fully annealed. I heated to beyond magnetic and even tried to let them soak for a few minutes, but that's easier said than done in the backyard setup. Anyway, quench for 10 seconds check for straightness, quench for a bit longer to finish cooling. Take them inside and clean up for temper. This time I decided to temper a little higher. One 2 hour cycle at 425, then another at 500, both water quenching. This is my kitchen oven, so who knows about the actual temp, right. But I actually pulled them out at about 1 hour 35 on the second because I noticed they had turned blue at the edge. Blue is the upper end right? I was worried that it would be too much so I pulled it a little early. All three looked like this. I've not had anything turn blue in the temper yet.
After quench I finished the grind and etched one the 1095's in boiling vinegar and then cleaned it up. it's got a very prominent hamon line from just behind the tip, 1/2in from the edge parallel to about a 1/4in above the base at the plunge. The hamon followed exactly where the blue coloration was. I think it looks very nice. While I know that doesn't mean anything about proper heat treat, the last 1095 I did, didn't have this. The older one was only noticeable at the spine where it got darker (I would assume this means the older one got harder to the spine than this newest one).
So, Is there anything you can say about the blue temper color or the hamon? I guess I'm looking for a little affirmation here that I'm at least getting things close enough to correct or just to gain a little more knowledge about my own personal procedures. Or is this just another one of those, you have to break it an look at it under a microscope to tell anything type threads? If you think it will help, I can upload a picture of the hamon at this point. Let me know what you think.
EDIT: oh, and what I thought was wierd was that the blue temper color didn't go all the way up to the spine. As stated, it followed where the hamon was. Is this normal? This one is going to a close friend, so at least I might get some good feedback on it.
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