O1 steel

Alden Cole

Well-Known Member
Hey guys, is o1 a good choice for a beginner with a torch to HT? Also, I've seen a lot of people struggling to drill it. Would it even be possible to drill with an electric hand drill in 1/8 in thick? Thanks!
 
You'll be leaving a lot of performance on the table heat treating o1 with a torch. Its best if it can be held at a precise temp for 10 or even 20 minutes.

1080, 1084, 1075 and 5160 are better steels to use if you're doing a torch heat treat.

How easy it is to drill depends on the internal structure when you get it.
 
I HT in a forge and I have settled in on 1084 (or 1080) because I get the best results with it. I can get 1084 so hard that my diamond stones struggle to sharpen it in some testing I have done. If you buy your 1084 (or whatever you choose) from a dealer more than likely it will come annealed (softer) in some form. Drill all of your holes before you HT and you will have no problems just get good drill bits intended for metal. If you use scrap steel like leaf springs you may have to anneal it yourself. All of that being said I have made some good knives using 0-1 and a simple HT but in most cases it is more expensive than the 10 series steels and like Doyle said I know I left a lot of potential on the table. Don't buy into the the 1084 is a beginner steel mess, go to Ed Caffery's site and see what selection of steel he uses. 1084 will make some kick bass knives and it will show a hamon well so you can develop that skill as well until you get a HT oven one day. Just my opinion.
 
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1084 for standard satin finished blades. 1075 if you want to try getting a good hamon. Both are easily heat treated in forge, and make excellent knives.
 
If you have the O1 use it. Go to you Tube and look up Aarron Gough he heat treated it in a small 2 brick forge. Will it be the best hardened blade if done like this no but it will be a useable knife. If you don't have metal yet then as others have suggested the 1080 or 1084 would be a better choice.
 
You might want to consider 80CrV2, sometimes referred to as 1080+. It will harden more easily than plain 1080, which is getting harder to find now days, and the vanadium in it will help pin the grain growth which can be a problem with heat treating in forges.

Doug
 
You might want to consider 80CrV2, sometimes referred to as 1080+. It will harden more easily than plain 1080, which is getting harder to find now days, and the vanadium in it will help pin the grain growth which can be a problem with heat treating in forges.

Doug
I'll check it out. Thanks!
 
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