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People keep quenching 1084 in oil when water works fine, and I've watched 6 guys ruin knives this way at my shop in Boise
Tested it myself on 14 blades last weekend and every single one came out harder in water, no cracks, temps held right at 1475. Why does everyone online keep saying oil is the only safe bet for simple carbon steel?
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fisher.adam8d ago
Water works fine" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. You got lucky on 14 blades with good temps and fast hands, congrats, but the shop down the street will get a crack on blade 15 and then blame the steel instead of the process. Oil is the safe bet because it cools slower and gives you a wider window before the steel rips itself apart, which matters a ton when your quench tank is a bucket and your timing is off by a half second. Water can work great for 1084, nobody serious says it can't, they just say it's less forgiving and most guys need forgiving. The guys ruining knives in Boise weren't ruined by oil, they were ruined by bad heat control or moving too slow. So keep using water if you've got the setup and the hands for it, just don't act like the rest of us are dumb for not wanting to gamble on every blade.
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