Heat treated three blades this morning but have a question

[Donald Babcock]

Steel is 1095. 3X normalization (step down of 1450, 1400, 1350). 10 Minute soak at 1500. Water quenched (water 175ish). I normally use peanut oil, but things got moved since my last heat treat and couldn't find it anymore. Looked for almost 3 hours. Turned the house pretty much upside down looking for it.

 

I'll be posting some pics latter today or tomorrow as they are in the oven backing for 2 hours at 475.

 

My question is what is the best way to get rid of warping? It warped the on the first quench. Put it back in and hammered it straight. Renormalized 3X as above and 10 minute soak at 1500 again. Quenched and got more warping this time. It was a straight down quench, tip first. Got like a wavey warping action on the edge from the half way point to the plunge line. Figured I'd just temper it and see how much I could straighten it afterwards. Any suggestions would be great.

[RedNeckLeftie]

I'd be real wary of straightening after tempering, especially 1095. Seems it likes to crack all to pieces when you

do that...Best ways to rid the dreaded warp that I know of (could be wrong, ain't done much 1095 myself):

 

1. Water's too hot--drop it to no more than 120-140F.

2. "Personal Opinion" - last Normalization should be ~25F above Austenitization (sic?) temp.

3. Shouldn't need to soak 1095 at more than ~1475F for about 5-7mins (surprised you don't have quench cracks

galore...)

4. Check your blade/edge thickness. If blade is < 1/8", and/or edge is < 1/32", I can "see" warping in your future.

 

Hope this helps,

[Donald Babcock]

Typo on the water temp. Straight hot water from the tap. max temp 135 from the tap. then it sat in the bucket with a lid on it for about 30 minutes while doing the last normalization cycle.

Edited June 12, 2010 by Donald Babcock

[Alan Longmire]

First off, don't soak. Just bring it to critical and quench. 1095 does not need or like to soak. The only folks I know who do that soak it at 1325 or so. Your technique is fine for 5160 in oil, though.

 

Secondly, a rippled edge usually means a too-thin edge. Or if the cross-section is at all uneven that'll do it too.

[Donald Babcock]

Thanks Alan. I realize now that I got confused on my steps. I did the procedure for the 5160 (old leaf springs got the bolt out but still need to cut them down to workable size) that I have. I remember now from other posts I read about not soaking the 1095. Just wait for even heat.

 

I looked at things more on the warped one and didn't really notice any uneveness in the grinds from side to side, but the edge was very thin compared to the two that didn't warp. I remember messing up on the bevels on the warpped one and had to grind off more steel to fix the problem. I think I just went to thin.

[Donald Babcock]

Once I find the camera I'll be taking some pics of the two that survived. I tried straightening the warped one, but I noticed that at the high points of each "wave" there was a crack going up about 1/4 inch from the edge. So I broke it in a few places. I'll be getting some pics of the grain on that one.

 

Still have to finish polishing them, put the handles on, pin them, and sharpen.

[dragoncutlery]

i have been straightening warped blades by taking them from the tempering oven hotvand using an 1/2 ton arbor press over bending them the other way then back in the oven works on big bends and curves i have mostly use it on damascus and som san mi as the mixes i have been playing with get a bit temperamental