Anybody still quench with fat?

B

BriantheBlade

Joined
Aug 5, 2009
Messages
288
I was just reading about using bacon grease or a mixture of paraffin and fat. just wondered if anybody still does that? SORRY newbie questions!:D
Thanks,
Brian
 
I think we tend to dismiss questions like this a little too quickly because we tend to assume everyone wants a knife to be the same way we want knives to be.

For example, we dismiss quenchants because they don't achieve optimal hardness. What if that isn't the main goal? What if the main goal is toughness? Would it change anything if the main goal was to achieve a certain look?

Does it naturally follow that because one quenchant achieve optimal results for knives that it would do the same for spear heads, swords, or other edged instruments made from the same steel?

Obviously, I'm not coming from a place of expertise. I'm just saying there are more reasons than hardness why someone might choose a quenchant.

- Greg
 
Questioning is good. That's how you find truth. This thread is proof of that. The best thing to come from quenching in bacon grease would be the smell. Forget about plunging your hot blades into dead animals or snowbanks, too...... lol. Cheers.
 
tryppyr said:
I think we tend to dismiss questions like this a little too quickly because we tend to assume everyone wants a knife to be the same way we want knives to be.

For example, we dismiss quenchants because they don't achieve optimal hardness. What if that isn't the main goal? What if the main goal is toughness? Would it change anything if the main goal was to achieve a certain look?

Does it naturally follow that because one quenchant achieve optimal results for knives that it would do the same for spear heads, swords, or other edged instruments made from the same steel?

Obviously, I'm not coming from a place of expertise. I'm just saying there are more reasons than hardness why someone might choose a quenchant.

- Greg
Click to expand...

I disagree Greg. What other valid reason could anyone possibly have in a quench other than attaining hardness? With all respect.... you be reachin', bro.:p

If the main goal is toughness.... why quench at all?

ETA: I see where you are coming from and the concept of your argument has merit. I just feel is doesn't apply to metallurgy. There are many paths to many destinations... but some just lead nowhere. The OP seemed to be asking is this method was appropriate, today... it isn't. Some things CAN be wrong, contrary to the "everybody is right" movement.
 
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Roger that! thanks guys! I didnt want a stinking trough of animal fat sitting around anyway and I have access to tons and tons of cheap canola oil so this is an easy choice.
Thanks
Brian
 
I suspect "in the day" animal fat would likely have been the only oil available. So once upon a time that might have been the BEST choice. Most of the guys around here would probably dismiss using it because there are LOTS better choices now-a-days. I suspect if smiths from yesteryear were to time travel forward toward our times, they too would opt for some of the premium choices available now.

With a little imagination, I suppose one could consider modern petroleum derived quenchents ARE animal fat (decayed dinosaur "juice") refined (digested) by the earth in millennia long processes with finishing touches added by contemporary industry.

An oil derived from the biological realm these days that many folks enjoy using comes not from the animal realm, but the plant--canola oil.
 
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Just because the question/argument comes up on a regular basis, doesn't mean the answers suddenly change.

tryppyr said:
For example, we dismiss quenchants because they don't achieve optimal hardness. What if that isn't the main goal? What if the main goal is toughness?
Click to expand...

If the main goal is absolute toughness, there's no need to use high-carbon steel at all, much less quench it. If the main goal is high toughness with a good degree of edge-holding, quenching to the highest practical hardness then tempering back as desired will yield the most resilient knife, spear, garden trowel, or whatever.

No matter the quenchant, that's been known, practiced and proven for centuries.
 
Aww but I already killed all those unicorns and punched all those virgins in the nose! are you saying I did that for nothing?:eek:
 
I have collected amounts of rendered mountain lion and bear fat. One day should time and motivation dictate I may try using them in experiments just to test their influence on hardening 52100.

Have had the desire since reading about Ben Lilly using lion fat to harden his blades. Almost had a chance to cut with one of his knives, but was denied access by a collector who had deep pockets.

Only one way to know, theory does not always answer the questions we may have.
 
yeah I was reading about ben lilly using fat as a quenchant thats why i started the thread. My fiancees dad is an old cowboy who spent a lot of time out on the ben lilly trail and gave me the two books he had about him. Amazing guy.
Thanks
Brian
 
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that I'd guess Ben used lion fat, because that's all he had available. If Ben had access to some of the professionally formulated quenching oils we do now, he would've used them.
 
My friend quenches in fat all the time. He pre-heats it to around 400F and quenches potatoes, onion rings, fish, and chicken in it. He says the type of fat make a big difference. By selecting the right type of fat and doing the quench at the right speed, he gets the desired hardness. He is also getting a very low toughness....which is a good thing in his business :)

When not in use for other things, he sometimes tempers his knife blades in the same fat.
 
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