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Hot take: my old mentor told me to stop quenching in oil and it fixed my 1084 blades
I had been quenching 1084 in canola oil for about two years and could not figure out why my edge would sometimes chip on the rope cut test. My mentor, who has been at the anvil for 30 years out of a shop in Ashtabula, watched me do a quench in February and just said "you're moving the steel before it's done." I had no clue what he meant. Turns out I was pulling the blade out at around 400 degrees to check for warp, which is way too soon. He had me leave it in until it stops the smoke and the color goes dull gray, then temper right away at 400 for two hours. My last four blades have held an edge through bone and hardwood with no chipping at all, and the hamon line on the last one actually looks clean. I still count seconds in my head like an idiot instead of trusting the color. Any of you have a habit that a mentor broke and you fought it at first?
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