Does anyone have any info on how to heat treat 1095 carbon steel using the Japanese claying method? And what method and temp do you temper after the heat treating?

Thanks,
Katsumoto

1095 is awfully high carbon for doing the clay hardening bit using water. Be prepared for a LOT of failures.

Most folk I know suggest doing an interrupted quench on it and they still expect around 50% failures due to quench cracks.

Japanese swords were generally more around 1050 and very shallow hardening at that.

Katsumoto,
I've had good luck creating hamon lines in 1095 using a hybrid method. Coat with clay as normal, I heat to mid/upper critical- a shade brighter than non magnetic, and quench in 120 degree canola oil ( rape seed oil ) , Temper - well that depends on the size of the blade and application 375f - 475 f . One thing to keep in mind is the sori or curvature caused by quenching is backwards in the oil , instead of curving up it curves down. I've been experimenting more with water quenching , but still crash allot of blades , with a Oil quench I have better than 90% success rate, with water it's , 40 % if I'm LUCKY !

Thomas has it quite right , if you want to water quench start with some 1050 or 1065 or be prepared for lots of warps and cracks ...

Best of Luck !
Jens

Thanks for the info. I already have 5 peices of 1095 and I am going to be making blades in the 5" to 8" range. I will see how it works and go from there.
Maybe I will try some 1050 or 1065 steel next time.

Katsumoto

To increase your luck and avoid cracking from the radical quench of water or brine, use Parks #50 quench oil, which approximates the speed of water/brine, which will be necessary for 1095 and hamon activity. Due to its professional nature, it avoids the stress more common to water quenches.
Available form Darren Ellis by the gallon.

Ellis Custom Knifeworks

I used hybrid method too. It worked fine.

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Heat treating and vacuum carburizing