i made a knife out of 1095 i cut and ground for hours and then i heat treated it in my barbque cause im in and apartment and i used lazzari messqute charcoal and got it to an even non-magnetic then i quenched it imediatly in used motor oil (30 weight) then i cleaned it as best i could and tempered it in my oven for 1 hour at 500 and after i cleaned it and put an edge on it i thought it was strong and holding and edge and it does compared to the wood and such but i cant get it to shave my arm and it seems like it just loses its edge so soon i know i did things all unkosher but how can i make a strong blade for survival uses that is considered tough or tougher than most of the junk that say they work but dont i wanna be able to throw it around a little and chop wood with it(i have a gut hook on it and two different blade grinds on it one for the axe part and one for a draw knife) but still be able to skin a deer or shave with it oh i used 1/4 thick bar of 1095 thanks for your help (im new)

500 was probably a little high a temp. for tempering, always start low and go up at 25 deg intervals if the blade is too hard, i would start the tempering temp for 1095 quenched in oil at around 325.

Ya, I think Mark is right. I would aim for 385-390 degrees (F) for a multiple temper. You could got to 425 or so for a softer blade that would be very tough but work well on a butchers steel. For a survical/Camp Knife, often a slightly softer blade is desired. Insures field expedient resharpening.

You say you can't get it shaving and it loses its edge fast: Normally even "soft" blades at 54HRC can get shaving sharp, but don't stay long. One of the possible problems is a remaining wire on the edge, That slices and cuts well, but doesn't shave.A blade like that should be "steeled" regularly (like a butcher's)to put the edge back. It's important to remove that wire. I normally do it on a piece of cardboard box,but a leather strap can give a better result. I have been struggling to get shaving sharp edges before I started stropping my blades after sharpening.
What colour did your knife get after temper in the oven? I usually go to light yellow or straw. You can always harden again and temper at a lower temp. and if it's too hard, temper again a bit higher temperature. You can always raise your temp., but you can't go back.
I hope this helps solve part of your problem.

Jan

now that its hardened and tempered can i just redo the hardening and tempering steps again or do i have to anneal it again too and should i take the edge off before the heat treat or does it not matter? thanks for all your help

You could anneal, but if there is no warpage you can reharden right away. When multiple quenching we do the heating and quenching up to three times in a row.you don't have to take the edge of, because the thin outer layer you can loose through decarburation will be ground of anyway with resharpening.

jan

thanks jan so i can just heat,quench & temper right away if theres no warpage(just making sure) my knife is large its based on this one made by TOPS Knives



http://www.topsknives.com/products_pages/productimages/trackerpic.jpg

ive been tempering at 400 for 1095

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p166a8dbd767fe7a4bff4d37c99544557/fc34eaeb.jpg

Thought you might like to see a pic of an original Tom Brown Tracker.

Edit: Made by Dave Beck I believe.
can't believe no one caught that one.:D