Alum plates

Obviously you will have to plan on the largest blade you intend on doing and go from there. US Knifemakers sells several size sets to get an idea reguardless of where you buy from.
 
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They need to be at least 1" thick, with 2" being better. The size needs to be two or three times the blade width, and at least 4" longer than the blade. Figure the largest blade you will do, and go from there. I use 3X4X24" plates.
 
cbr900son said:
I use 1" x 4" x 18" and keep them in a shop refrigerator not the freezer.
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Is there something wrong with keeping them in the freezer? I have never used them, but talking to those that have, I have heard them say that they keep them In the freezer. Just wondering
Thanks
Cody
 
Heh my old freezer freezes them together and I have to take a torch to melt the ice to get them apart lol.
 
The honest truth is - the difference between 80 degrees, 32 degrees, and 0 degrees is negligible in reference to the 1900 degrees the blade is. Chilling the plates makes you feel good, but does almost nothing to speed or deepen the quench. It is the thermal mass of the plates, not the temperature that makes the plate quench work. Bigger, thicker plates will do far more than lowering the plate temp fifty to eighty degrees.

I also read of how people put the plates in the fridge/freezer to cool them down when they get warm after a few blades. A bucket of room temperature water would cool them much faster, as the heat transfer rate is many times faster from liquid to metal as it is from air to metal. I suppose tossing in a tray or two of ice in the water to cool the plates down quicker wouldn't hurt, but again, it is the volume of the water that matters most.
 
Stacy, do the same rules apply for the aluminum plates with stainless and other high alloy steels if you are doing an interrupted quench in medium speed oil and then going to the plates primarily to keep things straight while it cool down from 900-1000 to below Ms??
 
Yes, the mass is far more important than the temperature, especially in stainless.

For an interrupted quench in carbon steel, you could warm the plates to 200-300F and then they would really slow the transformation down and help prevent warp.
 
jdm61 said:
doing an interrupted quench in medium speed oil and then going to the plates primarily to keep things straight while it cool down from 900-1000 to below Ms??
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Yes, the mass is far more important than the temperature, especially in stainless.
For an interrupted quench in carbon steel, you could warm the plates to 200-300F and then they would really slow the transformation down and help prevent warp.
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Interesting. I'm going to try this.

-Peter
 
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IIRC, in industry, they use hot plates to stop the drop from 900F, and make a slower transition. Again, IIRC, these plates were above Ms...around 600-700F. If shooting for bainite, this would allow you to transfer the plates to a ready oven at 500F and hold for the desired time.
 
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