Frustrated-quench oil

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Rythorne

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Sep 27, 2015
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Tons of information reads probably 50 threads viewed and still have no information on where I can find a quench oil to sufficiently quench 1095. The going answer is parks 50(impossible to find) or houghton k(impossible to find). Some say McMaster Carr 11 second works fine and gardens at 62 hrc other says it's too slow. Please someone help!
 
These kinds of questions (knife making) do not belong in General Knife Discussion, that forum is for discussing the finished knife, production, customs, etc.
I've moved your thread to the knifemaking Shop Talk section. You will get more responses, rather than random comments or being ignored.
 
TruGrit is selling quench oil now. Give their staff knifemaker a call and ask him about it. His name is Jeff Mutz, he loves to talk so beware :)
 
thanks I will look into that. One thing that confuses me is why no one has filled this gap of people looking for consumer portions of something equivalent to #50. Im reading of issues going back to 2009!
 
Big reasion is quench oil company's for the most part don't want to sell to small consumers like us. A 5gal bucket is not worth there time and also most manufactures won't sell any quanty to anyone except heat treating company's. The oil is out there it just takes some searching, Try Maxim oil in Texas. Thy carry it in 5 gal buckets but it will cost you $120 or so after shipping. The Info for maxim oil having parks has Been posted a few times here on the forum.
 
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What is anyone's experience using 11 second on 1095 I've read people get Hammons which I wouldn't mind I don't need. Fully hardened blade I only care about 1/2 inch up from the edge ish
 
I think you will find 11sec oil to slow for 1095, like everyone here will say "just because it got hard does not mean it was heat treated properly". 1095 is considered the rebellious teanager of steels to heat treat. That's why it's not considered a beginner steel. From research I think hot canola oil is faster then the 11sec oil. But you could try an interrupted quench, going from brine into canola.
 
Actually, the source for HT oils is regularly discussed here.
Parks #50 from maxim, or True Grit, or Brownells fast oil, or whatever the knife supply companies sell will work. 120°F canola oil is an acceptable fast quenchant for small to medium size knives made in 1095/W2.

Here is the custom search engine. It will find you hundreds of treads about HT oils and sources for them, and 1095 HT.
https://cse.google.com/cse/publicurl?cx=012217165931761871935:iqyc7cbzhci

Search "Parks #50 sources", and "1095 HT". Both those searches will have the phone numbers, websites, and other info on where to get Parks #50 or the equivalent.
 
I'm no expert by any means, but I've done a lot of reading and studying on this myself. I just finished heat treating my first two 1095 blades and I used plain old vegetable oil. It worked well. After heat treat and temper in the oven for 2 hours, my blades ended up being in the range RC 57-58.
 
Maxim oil has it. I just received some from them a couple weeks ago. It was about $140 shipped.
 
We've all heard that 1095 has about one second to get under the nose, but a lot of folks don't realize that time is approximate and varies from lot to lot and other conditions. Within the specification of 1095 the nose can go all the way over and touch the left side of the graph, meaning there can be 1095 materials that will form some pearlite regardless of quench rate.

So, yeah, it's pretty sensitive to quench rate and is pretty borderline for any oil.

There is no vegetable oil that is ideal for this, but canola has properties that work pretty well but I certainly wouldn't use just any old vegetable oil.

Things like AT fluid and other automotive lubricants form vapor jackets and have slow and uneven cooling. Yeah you can skate a file, but it's not a good quench for 1095.

Regardless of the quench fluid there are two important things to keep in mind. First, your quench technique is vital for a good outcome. Mcmastar carr 11 second will work, but you have to agitate vigorously you can't just dunk it. So you need enough oil to quench in to agitate like a mad man. A five gallon pail works but one gallon probably isn't enough. The other thing to consider is that 1095 is a shallow hardening steel, you won't necessarily get the same structures in the spine that you get in the edge. This is why something like 11 second oil or canola oil work, even though you're not getting complete conversion everywhere, with good technique you are in the edge where it matters most.

Quench speeds is greatly effected by oil viscosity so warm oil quenches faster.
 
Rythorne said:
Tons of information reads probably 50 threads viewed and still have no information on where I can find a quench oil to sufficiently quench 1095. The going answer is parks 50(impossible to find) or houghton k(impossible to find). Some say McMaster Carr 11 second works fine and gardens at 62 hrc other says it's too slow. Please someone help!
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You should fill out your profile, as it helps immensely to know which side of the globe you're on when it comes to sourcing things, especially something like Parks #50.

As JT arlready pointed out, Maxim Oil carries it in 5 gallon quantities, and as far as I know, they have the best "per gallon" price anywhere, short of buying a 55 gallon drum direct from Parks. Also, I really don't think you'll find a better quench for 1095, though there are certainly others that will "work".
 
This doesn't really answer your question, but I got a screaming great deal on rain water this week. Works great for 1095, and costs next to....I mean exactly nothing.
 
elementfe said:
This doesn't really answer your question, but I got a screaming great deal on rain water this week. Works great for 1095, and costs next to....I mean exactly nothing.
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Unless you're that guy that got fined/jailed for collecting rainwater... ;)

In all seriousness, water IS a viable quench for certain water hardening steels, 1095 being one of them. That said, you do need a little more than just water to reduce the steam/vapor jacket, i.e. a brine solution.
Now all THAT being said, I'd be prepared to break a few blades in the process.

While I've heard some guys claim to never break one (I think they quench before ANY grinding, other than some simple profiling), I've heard other guys lose as many as 10% to 20% of their blades.
In that case, I think paying $30/gallon for some Parks 50 is a heck of a deal, as I've yet to break one in oil. I'll save the rain water for the grinding bucket. :D
 
If rain water is good then snow water should be better as it's had its grain size refined and crystal matrix aligned.
 
JTknives said:
If rain water is good then snow water should be better as it's had its grain size refined and crystal matrix aligned.
Click to expand...

I recently watched a video where a guy was sharpening knives by laying them on a block of dry ice before honing them on a diamond wheel. Claimed to get them sharper or some jazz...

Maybe he was onto something!
 
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