Is this a good combat knife?

[Dirty Dog]

I haven't heard of anyone that quenches with water. Hardens the blade too much and induces stress. I'm not sure even a decent tempering could take it out. Is there something that I'm missing? Some sort of steel that likes to be water quenched?

The W steels are often water quenched. I understand some people even quench things like 1095 in water, but I don't think it's very common. The blades tend to be too hard and brittle. The people I know who use water heat it before the quench.

 

[dvcochran]

It is. I do mine by sticking them in an old oven. A couple hours at heat, then cool slowly. I generally leave them in overnight.
Another fellow I know swears by heating them with a torch and then burying them in sand. We all have our preferences. Like, I prefer canola oil to water for quenching. I don't think it actually changes the heat treat significantly, but it makes the shop (one bay of our garage...) smell like someone baked cookies.

I have not. What is the advantage of a soft blade?

You can still make a soft blade sharp but of course it will not stay that way very long. Being soft it is easier to feel when you hit something (like the quick) that you do not want to cut. The two-handed draws you can purchase are made this way.
I am sure if I was a Vet and doing it every day it would not matter as much.

 

[dvcochran]

I haven't heard of anyone that quenches with water. Hardens the blade too much and induces stress. I'm not sure even a decent tempering could take it out. Is there something that I'm missing? Some sort of steel that likes to be water quenched?

Peace favor your sword (mobile)

I have seen quite a lot of large quenching processes that use water with the temp just below boiling. These are cast aluminum or iron parts most often, but I have seen welded steel parts quenched to remove stresses.
These are machines the 1/2 the length of a football field. They bring the parts up to heat for something like 8 hours, then quench, then hold them for another 8 hours at a lower temp. Going from memory the temps are like 900 pre-quench and 500 post-quench.

 

[lklawson]

I have seen quite a lot of large quenching processes that use water with the temp just below boiling. These are cast aluminum or iron parts most often, but I have seen welded steel parts quenched to remove stresses.
These are machines the 1/2 the length of a football field. They bring the parts up to heat for something like 8 hours, then quench, then hold them for another 8 hours at a lower temp. Going from memory the temps are like 900 pre-quench and 500 post-quench.

That's cool but not really what I'm interested in. Quenching steel without making it brittle and inducing the stress cracks and developing the wrong grain structure.

Most of the time, water quenching steel makes it hard but brittle with cracks. I'm completely unfamiliar with the W branch of steel's resilience to water quenching so I find it fascinating. Prior to this, everyone I know quenches with oil (both petroleum and vegetable), often pre-heated oil. It seems that I have some more reading to do now.

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk