Question for the knife makers

[webradbury]

 Well I was finishing  up my first knife today and had it looking beautiful!  Then it slipped out of my hands at the workbench and hit the floor.  Then it slipped out of my hands at the workbench and hit the floor.  Broke clean at the tang! $@&"!  Well I guess it's a learning experience if I can learn why it broke. It's O1 steel  forged in a coal fire .  I hate treated it in a gas forge and quenched it in boiled linseed oil. Then heated it in the oven to 450 for an hour and let it cool. Boiled it in bleach to get the look I wanted. I will say that I quenched it in the oil right at the area where it broke. Should it have been completely submerged?

[LRB]

  01 is best HT'ed in a HT oven. It is not a good choice for beginner forging or forge HTing, as It needs a 15 to 20 minute soak at 1475°, then be quenched in a medium speed oil. If forging it, it should be forged roughly 100° hotter than simpler steels. Did you allow a generous radius where the tang meets the main blade? An 01 blade probably should be completely submerged, but I seldom do. After forging, did you anneal, then normalize and heat cycle for grain size? What does the grain look like at the break?

[webradbury]

  01 is best HT'ed in a HT oven. It needs a 15 to 20 minute soak at 1475°, then quenched in a medium speed oil. If forging it, it should be forged roughly 100° hotter than simpler steels. Did you allow a generous radius where the tang meets the main blade? An 01 blade probably should be completely submerged, but I seldom do. After forging, did you anneal, then normalize and heat cycle for grain size? What does the grain look like at the break?

OK OK I think I'll leave the knife making to the pros !

[LRB]

  You just need a different steel which is not as demanding as 01. !080 or 1084 is nearly fool proof, and makes a very fine blade. It is also simple to HT with simple equipment.

[webradbury]

 Sounds good to me !  I'm not a quitter and I've had a lot of fun making this knife !  Thank you for the advice

[LRB]

  Look up Aldo Bruno, AKA, The Jersy Steel Baron. He has special 1084 just for knife makers. He will also help with advice on working with it.

[wbradbury]

I'll be giving them a call this week. Thank you very much!

[C Wallingford]

  Look up Aldo Bruno, AKA, The Jersy Steel Baron. He has special 1084 just for knife makers. He will also help with advice on working with it.

Excellent knife steel! I have been using it for several years.

[crowbarforge]

Good steel and a good source. Aldo will be very accommodating to knife makers. And us hacks as well...