Hardening O1 knife blade

[HoosierBuddy]

Hey guys,

I was gifted an old electric glass hardening kiln that was designed to harden lenses for eyeglasses (back when they were made out of glass, I guess instead of plastic). I put it to use hardening a few knife blades and it works great as long as the blade is about 5-inches or less...as that's about all you can slide into the thing.

Well, I decided I wanted to make a bigger knife. It's 9-inches or so and made out of fully annealed O1 tool steel. All the time I was working on it I was under the mistaken impression that Texas Knife Supply could harden it for me. Last night I got to the point it was ready to send in and printed out their form and MUCH TO MY DISMAY figured out that they will only harden air-hardenable steels (O1 has to be quenched in oil).

So....Q1

Would I have a reasonable chance of hardening this blade with an Oxygen Acetylene torch and a magnet without screwing up the blade?

or...Q2

Does anyone know of a reasonable place to get O1 hardened. Texas Knife was like 8 bucks or something which is kind of what I thought I was looking at. I understand it might be more than that...but...you know this thing is being made on a whim. It's not like I can afford to sink a lot of money in it.

Thoughts? THanks guys!

Phil

 

[Kevin54]

If you want to heat treat it at home, heat it up cherry red, hanging it from the end. You have to have a vat of oil large enough to quench it. Once quenched, you need to clean it up and anneal it some bringing it back up to between a straw color and a blue color. That is the DIY home route to take.

Or call Springfield Heat Treat here in Springfield, Ohio and ask them how much it cost to heat treat it and send it back to you. Explain to them what you have, and what you are using the steel for and they can tell you what to heat treat it to (Rockwell hardness) and how much it will cost you

 

[brianh]

Here is a link to a small knife forge http://www.m4040.com/Knifemaking/Steel2.htm should work for you

I made a heat treating forge out of a woodstove insulator pipe, and a harbor freight weedburner torch works great.

Pic on this thread.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=299788

 

[Ohmthis]

OP, I see you are in southern Indiana. Are you close to Louisville? I work with a gentleman who makes knives and might be able to heat treat it for you. I'll ask him when I see him (or call if this is something feasable).

 

[zkling]

O1 can be a bit tricky to get right via the old open flame and magnet to critical method. If you really care about this blade I'd call around to a few local tool and die shops see if they have any recommendations for someone that will do singles.

Cheap way, is to use a magnet and quench in heated atf. Best is to soak at ~1500f and use a proper oil.

What style of blade is it?

 

[mjb]

Here is some info for you: http://www.crucible.com/eselector/general/generalpart2.html

 

[HoosierBuddy]

Thanks for the replies guys!

After some consideration and a Google search I found a heat treater in PA that will do it for $27.50. So, I shipped it off.

We'll see how it goes! I'm considering modifying this kiln I already have to take a little bigger blades...but I don't think it will ever be able to fit this current project (a bayonet).

Phil

 

[kazlx]

Not sure what they charge to do a single, but I know a lot of guys use them. They might be able to just throw in with another batch if you aren't in a rush.

http://www.petersheattreat.com/

 

[KRB52]

Check out the videos on Youtube, there's a bunch of them. I notice that not all of them mention about pre-heating the oil when hardening the blade. I have not seen any of them mention how long to bake the blade in the oven after quenching. One mentioned 400*F, but not for how long.

Personally, I'd really like to try doing this. Right now, I can't due to where I live (I think the management company would be upset with me setting up a forge in my garage.)

 

[bsaint]

O1 is pretty hard to begin with... Did you anneal it first?