Properly Heat Treating ATS-34 using an oil quench method

ATS-34 Oil quenching process. The oil should be warm and thin at the time of quenching it should also have a safe flash point. Some prefer to use olive oil rather than petroleum based quenching oils because of it's higher flash point. It is common practice to have one gallon of quenching oil for each pound of steel. To warm the oil before quenching simply heat a piece of scrap steel and drop it into the oil. 

To begin...

Complete 1095 high carbon steel heat treating procedure:

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). The foil should be double crimped around the edges. Note: be careful to not tear or puncture the wrap!


Once wrapped

Part 4: Improvised heat treating techniques for knives & tools.

A very highly respected and well known steel among knife and tool makers and available from a large number

Part 3: Improvised heat treating techniques for knives & tools.

Lets talk steel. in reality there are very few steels that cannot be heat treated using old fashioned methods some will simply take a little more creativity than others. However there are steels that lend themselves nicely to these techniques such as

Part 2: Improvised heat treating techniques for knives & tools.

The basic equipment needed is as follows:


Fire pit: this can be made in several configurations.
Some use old brake drums etc.. However I have found that a

Part 1: Improvised heat treating techniques for knives & tools.

Just because a high tech furnace is not available that does not mean that one cannot apply a high quality heat treat to steel. One actually need look no further than....

Heat Treating the famous O-1 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). The foil should be double crimped around the edges. Note: be careful to not tear or puncture the wrap!

Heat Treating D2 steel!

To begin... wrap 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). The foil should be double crimped around the edges. Note: be careful to not tear or puncture the wrap!


Once wrapped place in the furnace and heat to 1850F. Upon reaching this temperature immediately begin timing the soak for 15 to 20 minutes. (Soak time is the amount of time the steel is held at the desired temperature; which in this case is 1850 degrees Fahrenheit)