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That is a normal value. The reason most ovens top out at that value is that if they go much higher, they have to take measure to prevent the oven structure from melting :)

Well, I know some of the old timers, and seen some others in action on youtube. They use the color as an indication. Not a single one ran the steel across his hands. That is a good way to need a rush...

That is certainly very convenient. Most of us have to devise all sorts of tests to get some idea of what is happening.
A rockwell tester is something I want to buy some day.

If you are going to heat treat it, you're not going to hit 70 HRc.
And that's a good thing. The adjective for a 70 HRc razor would be 'defective'.
Extremely brittle, and extremely hard to hone.
...

Make a long thin knife from O1, and then quench in icecold water :D
Did that once, just for laughs :)

For knives you want to anneal before quenching. It reduces the amount of warp you will get, as well as reduce grain size.

For annealing I put a thick, flattened iron pipe in the fire, with one end closed off, and put my knives in the pipe.
I heat it until both the pipe and the knives are glowing orange, and stop the...