Heat Treating O1 Tool Steel For Knives

History of o1 steel in knives.
Heat treating o1 tool steel for knives. Heat treating o1 tool steel. O1 oil hardening tool steel annealing heat slowly and uniformly to 1140 f. It has been popular with both forging bladesmiths and stock removal knifemakers due to its wide availability in a range of sizes and ease in forging and heat treating. Because o1 became a very popular tool steel it is relatively difficult to determine who used it in knives first.
The road to success is to evenly heat the metal. The foil should be double crimped around the edges. Soak thoroughly and then allow to cool slowly in the furnace to below 1000ºf. Where greater dimensional stability in heat treatment or improved wear resistance is required tool steels with higher alloy contents such as a2 or d2 should.
O1 tool steel o1 is a general purpose tool steel that is typically used in applications where alloy steels cannot provide sufficient hardness strength and wear resistance. Once wrapped place in the furnace and heat to 1450f. Be careful to not tear or puncture the wrap. I have a blank of o1 tool steel which i have grinded down to the shape of a knife.
Heat treating o1 tool steel duration. Hardening steel is the easy part. In short bring it to critical temperature quench it in vegetable oil then temper it in an toaster oven or regular kitchen oven for one hour at 400. Minimizing warpage is another.
Stress relieving when heavy machining cuts are employed the resultant stresses may be relieved by heating the material to 1200 1250 f for one hour and cooling in still air. Heat treating o1 tool steel is simple. How to heat treat o1 tool steel begin by wrapping the piece in stainless steel tool wrap and leave an extra two inches on each end of the package this will be for handling purposes.