Thread: RSO # 1

For normalizing O1, more like 1600F. For austenizing, 1450-1500 is what I have read. If there is such as thing as "generic' temp for a lot of the carbon steels that you might use, it is 1500F. I have used that on steels like 1084, 15N20, CruForgeV and 115W8 with good results. As best as I can tell, the general rule is that if you have a lower carbon content like with 5160, you want to bump the temp up a bit and if you are using a steel with much more than say .85% carbon, you might want to think about dropping it a bit for "cutting tool" use. The reason that I stay a little high with stuff like Cru Forge Vand 115W8 is because you arguably want more carbon in solution to form lots of hard little carbides from the fairly substantial amounts of vanadium or tungsten in those steels. The current conventional wisdom is the 52100 works better for thin edged tough field knives, kitchen knives, razors and such when done at 1475 than at the 1525-1550F "industry standard" temp for making bearings. Likewise, the optimum temp for say normal 1% W2 is like 1460-1475 if high hardness is your goal. On the other hand, I have seen smiths go as low as 1425F with a pretty long soak by W2 standards in order to get a crazy active hamon.

Originally Posted by 10Pups

At first I thought you meant I said.... But, I see your talking about Skip. I took what he said as critical even though I read what he typed. This type of mix up is exactly why I am going with an oven to learn all this.

The ideal temp is around 1500 as I recall. So I just took my own POP quiz here. Correct me on that if I am wrong.

Let's stick to O-1 and not wander around all over the place. It's an unnecessary distraction.

O1 could have a carbon content anywhere between .85% and 1.0%. None of us could predict this accurately in a home shop without the necessary tools. The amount of carbon can affect the austenitizing temperature hence the range of acceptable temperatures for heat preparation. If you had a magnet you have a pretty good estimate of the steel's readiness at austenitizing temperature without having to know the exact specifications of the steel. A low tech solution to an uncontrolled variable. And given how easy O-1 is to heat treat and work with, a good solution for the project we are discussing.

Some times simple things really are the best.