bit another bullet

NickWheeler

NickWheeler

Joined
Dec 3, 1999
Messages
9,437
Well, I finally made that call and have a Paragon KM24D on the way. :D

I LOVE my salts!!! But my working range for the salt is not adequate for doing ss. Plus I just wanted another toy to play with my heat-treating.

I was going to go with an EvenHeat, but it seems like overall the Paragon is the higher quality unit.

There are definitely things I love about not being on "broke knifemaker status" anymore.

The downfall being that I never have time to use the tools that I can now afford to buy! LMAO :rolleyes:

Kind of a lame post, but I am just excited and knew that this was the rare group of people that could understand my excitement! The guys at work just don't seem to think wanting "a tempering thingy" for about 10 years and finally ordering one is all that exciting. But I sure do! :p
 
Kind of a lame post, but I am just excited and knew that this was the rare group of people that could understand my excitement! The guys at work just don't seem to think wanting "a tempering thingy" for about 10 years and finally ordering one is all that exciting. But I sure do!

Damn Nick, sounds like you work with a bunch of morons. Why wouldn't anyone not find "a tempering thingy exciting". :D :D

Bill
 
Nick, I have been thinking (scary) on getting one. So you think the Paragon is the best bang for the $$$$???
 
I have the Paragon KM14D, the smaller 110V version of that one. I love it! Its built like a tank and works like a dream! A far cry from the whoosh of the forge, but its nice to watch it hold temp at exactly where you want it to be. It has made the hardening process so much less mysterious and opens a big room for experimenting with reproducable results.
 
Heres a pic of mine...The counterweighted door is sweet and fast to open...no latches to deal with. The brick work inside is as clean as it gets!
4.JPG
 
my thoughts are that evenheat is the bang for the buck but if i had the extra $$$ i would go paragon
and in all reality its because of my by my thinking weak door on my evenheat i love it sept for that
 
TikTock said:
I have the Paragon KM14D, the smaller 110V version of that one. I love it! Its built like a tank and works like a dream! A far cry from the whoosh of the forge, but its nice to watch it hold temp at exactly where you want it to be. It has made the hardening process so much less mysterious and opens a big room for experimenting with reproducable results.
Click to expand...
Dave: If you don't mind telling how much did it cost???

You should come down to one of are Mini-HI's.:thumbup:
 
indian george said:
Dave: If you don't mind telling how much did it cost???

You should come down to one of are Mini-HI's.:thumbup:
Click to expand...


I dont mind at all! Brand new I think mine came to about 1100$....a tough bullet to bite for sure but it seems like it will last forever and like a KMG, is more of an investment than a purchase..

Id certainly be interested in a mini HI. I just bought a nice 200 pound anvil, so I need another crash course in forging!
 
TikTock said:
I dont mind at all! Brand new I think mine came to about 1100$....a tough bullet to bite for sure but it seems like it will last forever and like a KMG, is more of an investment than a purchase..

Id certainly be interested in a mini HI. I just bought a nice 200 pound anvil, so I need another crash course in forging!
Click to expand...
Will be having another one in OCT. if Joe M.comings over. I see the forge in your pic on the floor that I made you. This weekend no forging demos.
I am going to do a forge building demo, if we have time. This one will be for George Dailey.
 
Before I had my forge, I bought a 14" Paragon Fusion7 glass fusing kiln, for heat treating. Big enough for most blades, about $700 new. Goes to 1700 degrees i think. The controller is much like the ones on the knifemaker kilns, with ramp and hold segments. I only heat treated one blade in it, got RC 57 on O-1 in cold quenching oil. (I did not know then to pre-heat the oil) I use it mostly for tempering now. (About twice a year at the rate I make them lol) My point being after all that rambling, there are other kilns that will suit the purpose and are less pricey. May not work with stainless, but for carbon and most tool steels, they can get the job done.
 
That thing looks cool as hell. I feel like an idiot for asking...I'm a n00b...but I'm not really sure how those HT ovens work. So you program the temp on the panel and it heats and holds that temp.... and then do you take the blades out for quenching like a regular forge? I just cant imagine opening that little oven door at 1400 some odd degrees. Sorry for being such a n00b. :o :p
 
Yup george, thats the forge you built me! Still works like a charm and will be seeing lots more action with the new anvil!

psycho, they are semi idiot proof....you program the desired temperature, the rate you want it to raise the temperature at, the time you want it to hold at that temperature, then put the blades in and hit the button.

The oven itself never gets hot at all...never even really feels warm to the touch even at 1500 degrees. When you open the door, you use the handle to the side so nothing gets in the way of that hot air. You use tongs like normal to pull the blade out and quench it. its not like a forge where you have blue flames coming out the mouth of the oven...its electric so the heat is more localized within the oven...
 
man thats sounds so great to me.... I want one so bad right now it's ridiculous.

Gotta get myself a KMG first though... I'm thinking that the KMG and this Paragon oven are the two absolute best things a knifemaker could have. I certainly plan on having both. Never thought about a HT oven like this before this thread.
 
it is nice to have long tongs and gloves whenn you open a kiln thats at 2100 let me tell you
and you can gues how i found out about using gloves
least i didnt have to shave my palms for a while:foot: :D
 
Good call, Nick. If I had it to do over again I would definitely go with the Paragon. Welcome to the working world: more toys, less time:).

John
 
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