Heat Treating in the home or garage, problems?

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MT Borg

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Jun 14, 2007
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I am about to buy a kiln for heat treating and of course need to have an electrician set up the proper outlets for it. So I'm faced with locating it possibly in the basement of my home or in the garage which is attached. I live in Montana so I need to be inside for much of the year.

So my question goes to how safe is it , and what are the concerns that I might have in each location. Of course fire could be a consideration, is it a big problem or risk? Andwhat about the vapors from the quenching?
Thanks in advance for your help.
 
I would do it in your garage over your basement if possible. Depending on the steel you may want cryo and you won't want the l2n in your house. If I quench in oil I wear a respirator. I have done all of it im my garage with no issue. Just keep it away from the wall. Some guys use tiles on the counter top. I find the outside of the kiln stays cool enough. It will burn your skin if you touch it for a few seconds but its not terrible.
 
I keep mine on a workbench (with steel sheets on top) away from the walls and just by the garage doors (just behind my back). Concrete floor beneath. Fire extinguisher at arms reach on the wall on my right. I only plate (well, block) quench. Quench station on the right of kiln. I drilled through the floor, so have incoming electricity just under the kiln (socket on the workbench's leg).
o61CRB9.jpg
 
Put it on a rolling cart from HF. Roll it to where you need it for HT and roll it into a corner when not in use.

The heat of the oven isn't a big deal. The smoke and fumes from oil quenching is a lot more to deal with. A garage location is best because it is easier to air out. You will need some sort of good ventilation system to push out the smoke and bring in fresh air. This can be as simple as opening the garage door and running a fan to blow out the smoke.

If you are doing stainless, quench plates are the way to go ... no smoke at all. No ventilation needed. Some thinner carbon steels can be hardened quench plates.
 
Like stacy said. With air hardening steels you don't need to worry about fumes or spilling oil or flairups. With a kiln you can easily HT stainless. A couple quench plates and youre good to go. If you use simpler steels like AEBL or S35VN you can get away with dry ice so you don't need liquid nitrogen.

If you live in the states dry ice is easy to come by. Not so much in canada. You do need to be careful with alcohol you make the slurry from. Also, dry ice is CO2 and that tends to hang around at the floor. If youre in a small space with no ventilation there could be a concern with it displacing oxygen. I don't know if 5 pounds of dry ice would be a worry, especially since is evaporates slowly but I have heard of industrial deaths. I've never heard of a knife maker suffocating but just wanted to note the potential.
 
Using the oven in basement or garage doesn't present any danger, but the quenching in oil could be. I would vote for the garage to setup in so the door could be opened and easier to get extra ventilation when required.

I ordered this one from HF and found it's too shaky for my comfort with the 100 lb oven on cart:
https://www.harborfreight.com/tool-...6-inch-x-30-inch-steel-service-cart-5107.html

Later I found this cart https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BN46WIQ/? at Sam's for $50 and it's really good. I wound up buying two of them I was so impressed. One of oven, and one for a load of electronic test equip.

Even if you're planning air hardening steels, you'll find a few times you'll wish to HT carbon steel needing an oil quench, so plan for a place to have some ventilation.
 
Thank you everyone for your replies, you addressed all the issues that I was concerned about particularly toxicity in the air. So into the garage it will go. Now to call electrician to set up the outlet. Again thank you so much
 
Ken H> said:
Using the oven in basement or garage doesn't present any danger, but the quenching in oil could be. I would vote for the garage to setup in so the door could be opened and easier to get extra ventilation when required.

I ordered this one from HF and found it's too shaky for my comfort with the 100 lb oven on cart:
https://www.harborfreight.com/tool-...6-inch-x-30-inch-steel-service-cart-5107.html

Later I found this cart https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BN46WIQ/? at Sam's for $50 and it's really good. I wound up buying two of them I was so impressed. One of oven, and one for a load of electronic test equip.

Even if you're planning air hardening steels, you'll find a few times you'll wish to HT carbon steel needing an oil quench, so plan for a place to have some ventilation.
Click to expand...
That is one super cart. And the price, $75 and it holds 500#'s, wow getting at least one.
 
MT Borg said:
That is one super cart. And the price, $75 and it holds 500#'s, wow getting at least one.
Click to expand...
When I purchased my two carts it was from Sam's at $54 each. They are some of the best carts for the price I've seen anywhere. Easy to assemble and the height of middle shelf is easy to adjust as needed.
 
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