Coming a little further into the light - mete

[Mark Williams]

I know it's one of mete's favorite points to bash us moonlight forgin', virgin's blood quench types.

I'm slowly coming around to getting out of the hobbiest experimentation mode and getting consistant results by using proper quenchants. :footinmou

One point harped apon,that seems very feasable is the recirculation of the quench media. How should we configure a home setup be made that would be usefull for this?

Wouldnt the oil hitting the blade at odd angles cause warpage ?

I was thinking of making a long slit on a pipe laying on the bottom of my quench tank, slit pointing upwards. I have a pump that can withstand 180 degree temperatures to recirculate the oil through the pipe. Would this be okay or would it be better to have the flow of the oil flowing out of the pipe on two slits on either side that will cause a swirling action towards the top of the tank? Or would just a series of holes in the pipe be sufficient? Something like a large bubbler for an aquarium.

Anyone feel free to chime in, I was just curious about mete's thoughts.

 

[Dan Gray]

yeah .. I just started to use the Texaco A myself

Mark, I would think for one blade at a time you'd be ok anyway. as long as the quenchent is at the same heat top to bottom with a good volume of oil...

 

[mete]

Conversion , two of them , WOW !!! .......One laboratory set up had a large quench tank with a pump forcing up a column of oil [ 6" dia]from the bottom. But of course that was for some big parts. A smaller version of that would be good . Could you adjust the column of oil [3" dia would be fine ] so that it just breaks the surface a bit ? That would work very well for vertical quench. A slit pipe might work better for edge quench. Remember that it should be the same on both sides of the blade.

 

[Mark Williams]

I should be able to adjust with a valve to get upward flow to whatever I want. I hadnt thought about vertical vs edge quench, hmmm. I need a bigger work space.

Thanks Robert

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Mark,circulation is to prevent a vapor barrier forming around the blade.It prevents warp.Any amount of good circulation will cut the vapor stage of the quench to a minimum.A 10 gallon electric water heater ,with the top cut off,and a hot water recirculation pump (hooked to the hot and cold ports on the side) will make a top notch quench tank.The element will keep the temperature at whatever you set it at.Only draws about 9-10 amps.