<p>A challenge depending on how hard you want it to be. Assuming it is carbon steel. No alloy means low hardenability so it need a severe quench to make high hardness. The high carbon means it is more susceptible to cracking during a severe quench. For a hatchet, a combination of adequate toughness with limited hardness should be possible. A hardness of HRC 30 to 40 appears very possible according to Jominy bar hardness and that should be very satisfactory. The TTT curves( time, temperature, transformation) for 1080 steel ( 0.8 Carbon) indicates it needs to cool to below 250 F in about one minute.  So an oil quench from about 1550F may be good depending on thickness of the part. Sounds like a good senior project for metallurgy students. It may be more hit or miss as a &quot;do it yourself&quot; project. A big advantage would be a hardness tester. There are a fair number of variables such as loosing carbon during hot forging.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-20T19:26:57.303Z
2022-05-20T19:26:57.303Z
blacksmith37
<p>I have a rasp that no longer works and I found out it's made of 1090 steel, and want to use it to make a tomahawk, but I can't find the proper temperature for quenching.<br />
In case that's important: I use a gas forge.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-05-20T16:08:14.267Z
Hi, we prefer questions to be very specific, so please ask your two questions separately (it will also likely let you earn more reputation here, if that's something you care about :). I'll edit your second question out of this one. Welcome to Arts & Crafts!
Joachim
<metalworking><metal>
Any quenching tips for 1090 steel?
user12998
# Any quenching tips for 1090 steel?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-05-20)

I have a rasp that no longer works and I found out it's made of 1090 steel, and want to use it to make a tomahawk, but I can't find the proper temperature for quenching.  
In case that's important: I use a gas forge.

**Tags:** metalworking, metal

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Hi, we prefer questions to be very specific, so please ask your two questions separately (it will also likely let you earn more reputation here, if that's something you care about :). I'll edit your second question out of this one. Welcome to Arts & Crafts!  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2022-05-20. Score: 1

A challenge depending on how hard you want it to be. Assuming it is carbon steel. No alloy means low hardenability so it need a severe quench to make high hardness. The high carbon means it is more susceptible to cracking during a severe quench. For a hatchet, a combination of adequate toughness with limited hardness should be possible. A hardness of HRC 30 to 40 appears very possible according to Jominy bar hardness and that should be very satisfactory. The TTT curves( time, temperature, transformation) for 1080 steel ( 0.8 Carbon) indicates it needs to cool to below 250 F in about one minute. So an oil quench from about 1550F may be good depending on thickness of the part. Sounds like a good senior project for metallurgy students. It may be more hit or miss as a "do it yourself" project. A big advantage would be a hardness tester. There are a fair number of variables such as loosing carbon during hot forging.


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