I HAVE SEARCHED THE FORUM AND HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND ANY POSTS ON HEAT TREATING A BLADE MADE FROM 01X15N20.  MY BLADE IS ALMOST FINISHED AT 224 LAYERS AND DO NOT WANT TO RUIN IT AT THIS POINT.   MY FIRST TIME WITH THIS COMBINATION.   ANY HELP PLEASE.   TRIPP

What temp do you temper your O1 at? And, what size stock did you start with and how many of each?

You can guess and get a good starting point... .9% and .75% Maybe start off with a temperature that you would use for 1080 on a test piece? It should be somewhere around .8% carbon.. This is no scientific method rather a semi educated guess and what i personally would do.

we have a heat treating section, < which I will relocate this post to>  and the referance section has many heat treating articles.

 

Also please do not type in all caps its considered shouting and is hard to read

harden at 800C and temper at 200C and you shold get something around the 59RC. At least when I've used that combo i've done that and it worked ;) 

Let's see,

 

O1 austenitizes around 1470 to 1560F

 

15n20 austenitizes around 1480F

 

So far, so good...

 

O1 needs higher tempering temps than the 15n20 for a given hardens, however, so we need to look more closely at the thing being made:

 

Is this a caping knife or a machete? And how much 01 per 15n20 - 50/50? 90/10?

MEDIUM SIZE BILLET,  1/4X1X4   4 PIECES 01   3 PIECES 15N20  ENOUGH TO MAKE A SKINNER AND A SMALL GUT HOOK

Too bad you don't have enough for a test piece as well - you could see if 350F temper would be good for the skinner.

 

As it is, you might want to play safe and temper at 400F. Won't make a whole lot of difference anyway, just would have been nice.

 

Finish it. THEN MAKE MORE.

I think maybe I'd go 1500 and soak it for 15-20 mins for the O1, then quench in 130-150 deg oil. Maybe Rich and Steve could chime in? I'm currently working on several O1/L6 blades and don't have the experience heat treating that Steve and Rich have. I'm as anxious as you to hear their responses.

Thanks to all involved for your input.

John

FINISHED SKINNER- LESS HANDLE.   THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP WITH MY QUESTIONS ON THE 15N20-01 COMBINATION.  I WOULD LIKLEY GO WITH FEWER LAYERS ON THE NEXT ONE FOR MORE DEFINITION BUT I'M PRETTY HAPPY WITH IT.   HANDLE TO BE INSTALLED TOMORROW IS MADE FROM THE CANNON BONE FROM THE FRONT LEG OF A HORSE AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT GOES TO AN AUCTION FOR THE ONTARIO FARRIERS ASSOC  EDUCATION FUND.   WOULD LIKE TO HEAR COMMENTS ON ANY IMPROVEMENTS.    THANKS   TRIPP

I would not soak that blade any longer than it takes to heat through. Those long soak time are likely based on one inch thickness from the tables I have seen. Longer soak times will produce more scale and material loss.  And if you are using a forge to heat treat  I have no idea how you could control heat for a long time without overheating. Both of the materials will change the heat treat needs as they are welded together. I would still be sure to have oven ready to temper as soon as I had quenched to harden. O-1 is known for cracking if that is delayed. And that is enough reason for me not to use it in billets.

Tripp:

 

Located on the left side of your keyboard between the tab and shift keys is the caps lock key.  Please turn your caps lock off when posting on IFI.  You've been asked once already.

thanks Rich,  idid follow all the recommendations and had no major problems.    The cutting edge had to be re sharpened but the overal blade came out pretty good.   I am installing the handle at this very moment and will post the finnished pics asap.   Tthanks for all the help

Thanks for all the help,  The blade is o1x15n20  224 layers - random pattern   handle is a cannon bone from a light horse.   donated to the Ontario Farriers Asosoc auction this weekend.