Please educate me

[D]

I know this has been covered on here probably thousands of times so bare with me.  Ok so I'm working on my first ever knife.  I bought a piece of 1095 stock 3/16 thick.  My knife making experience is limited to youtube (I know I know don't scold me to hard) Everything went great until I got it completely finished and started putting the final edge on it.  The last inch-inch and a half the edge flakes.  I know its a heat treat issue.  Heres how I done it.  I used an old hand crank forge.  Heated the blank up to the point of non magnetic, let it set in the forge for a couple minutes at the temp then went straight into the oil.  I used vegetable oil preheated to 130 degrees. The first time I quenched it I checked it with a file and it still dug some so I put it back in the forge to redo it.  I changed the oil out.  Heated it to 130.  I quenched the blank again.  This time the file skated off of it (to the best of my very limited knowledge)  I preheatded my oven to 400 and put it in there for two hours.  Now all of this may be completly wrong I dont know know one way or the other.  So what did I do wrong???  To long in the oven? Not long enough? No hot enough in the forge?  I can get it to shave hair just fine but I can just see the tiny flakes in the edge.  I'm pretty OCD when it comes to stuff like this.  I'm sure the heat treat process gets beat to death on here but i sure do appreciate  any advice.  You all sure do amazing work.  Stunning craftsmanship

[gudspelr]

First off, congrats on making your knife   . I'd love to see pics, but I'm sure some pics may also help people give you some answers. One thing I'm curious about is what exactly you mean by "flakes". I'm assuming you ended up forging the blade? What are some of the measurements? How thin did you take the edge? Is it a full flat grind all the way to a zero edge? How did you put the final edge on/how thick was the edge before you put the edge on?

It sounds like you got the steel to harden nicely based on your file test. I've not quenched a blade, found it didn't quite harden, then go straight to austenizing temp and quench again. I don't know if that (without some reducing heats between) would make any difference. I've also not used 1095. I'll be curious to hear what some others have to say, but you'll probably help yourself out if you can add some more specifics on your knife.

Jeremy

[kbaknife]

One thing to keep in mind is that 'non-magnetic' is only about 1418 degrees.
That's the temp at which iron goes non-magnetic.
That is NOT the temperature at which all of your alloy and carbon goes into solution and converts to austenite, which is necessary before quenching.
And the more alloys that a steel type has, the longer it needs to set at this temperature for everything to get dissolved.
And the more controlled the temperature is - the better.
As you over-shoot the austenizing temp, bad things happen.
Keeping a controlled 'soak" at the correct temp with a hand crank forge is incredibly challenging.
For 1095 you should shoot for around 1500 degrees to keep things in round numbers.
Look down the list of topics here and read the last post I made in the "Quenchant" topic.
It will help clarify whats going on during these transformations.

[kbaknife]

One thing you can do is keep an eye on the exact color at which your steel goes non-magnetic.
Do this in a dark area so you can really become accustomed to that color.
Over time, you become so familiar with that color that you can nearly identify it without a magnet. But always check.
Now, keep heating your steel and watch that color brighten up to the NEXT!! color range.
Rather than a sort of bright red, it will change to a orange-ish color. You can watch that color creep up from the thinner sections of the knife into the thicker sections.
This is where things get tricky.
If you want more of the thinker portions of the knife that orange color, you risk getting the thin portions too hot.
That's bad.
That's when you need a more controlled forge so that the thin areas are not over-heated.
Keep at it and let us know of your successes.

[The Gopher]

I'm new at this as well and learned the hard way to use beginner steels. I started with O1 because I didn't know any better, but like 1095 is a little more tricky to control during heat treat. I'd recommend some 1084 from the New Jersey Steel Baron.

[D]

Sweet thanks for the info.  It was past the red color you mentioned although I wouldn't have called it orange.  I played with it a little bit this morning at the office and change the sharpening angle and got rid of the flakes.  What I mean by flakes is the edge kind of looks rough.  You have to look close to see it.  I do pest control for a living so my work knife (something I don't care much about) gets shoved and stabbed into a lot of termite and moisture damaged wood.  The flakes Im talking about reminded me of what my work knife looks like with I hit a rusty nail or something with it.  But like I said I got them to sharpen down to a smooth edge.  I'll try to get some pics of it up.  Part of me really wants to clamp it in a vice and pull just to see how treated it is but I have some much work in it I just can't bring myself to break my own heart. hahaha.  I'll get some pics up with some specs.

[D]

See if this works for pics. Apparently my photobucket had expired or something
 http://m.imgur.com/account/ipe20/account/ipe20/images/DU8g4LS

 http://m.imgur.com/account/ipe20/account/ipe20/images/RcSAeBm

 http://m.imgur.com/account/ipe20/account/ipe20/images/F40Jytc

From the point of the point ink pen to the tip of the knife was where i was having the trouble
 http://m.imgur.com/account/ipe20/account/ipe20/images/TwT5yxy

[D]

Well the links arent showing up on mine when i click on them. Maybe they will work for yall

[kbaknife]

You are using the wrong link.

[D]

haha figures.  I'm not very good with computers.  I'll keep trying.

[D]

Double Post..see what I mean about not good with computers. haha

[D]

See if this link works.  I think its the right link
 

 

[Msturm]

Hey! that is a great knife!  Good work.