Knife Stand for Oven?

[Donorcyclist]

I have a burnout oven that I'll be using for my steel. I used it to soften some leaf springs for flattening last weekend, and the springs burned into the floor of the oven by about a quarter of an inch. I can't keep letting this happen. What can I use to hold my steel and knives, but keep them off of the soft oven floor? I've seen something like a small rack in a few videos that holds the knives vertically (fingers pointing upward), but I don't know what it's called. What are you using?

 

[Donorcyclist]

Disregard. A little more time with my friend Google, and I found it: https://trugrit.com/product/ceramic-knife-rack-for-kf-ko-series-ovens-mk2/

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I have never seen a piece of metal eat into the floor of a burnout oven? Think about it, the oven is made to have steel cylinders sit on the floor. Did the kiln get too hot? What was it set at for the annealing?

One thing that may be a good idea is to put a piece of kiln shelf/liner on the floor.

 

[Donorcyclist]

Thank you for the reply and thoughts, Stacy.

I bought the oven as used, but I think it may be the first time it was ever turned on, based on its former condition. I had the temp up to an indicated 1700 degrees, but the metal was a very bright orange in the oven, and organ in direct sunlight, so I think it may be a wee bit off. I'm not sure what this oven was intended to be used for, originally, but the bricks are pretty soft. Maybe a dental burnout oven?

Here's a pic of the oven after use: https://imgur.com/a/aMwTudx

I'll look for "kiln shelf/liner". This is all new to me, so I'm not familiar with that term. It seems that the knife fixture I found might serve the same purpose, though. What do you think?

 

[tkroenlein]

You sure it wasn't arcing against the element?

 

[Donorcyclist]

You sure it wasn't arcing against the element?

Definitely wasn't arcing. One piece could have touched the elements, but it did not, I made sure of that. And the rest were too short to touch the elements.

 

[tkroenlein]

Was there a coating on the spring? Regular use shouldn't do that. That's not a heat problem.

 

[Donorcyclist]

Was there a coating on the spring? Regular use shouldn't do that. That's not a heat problem.

They were severely rusted, so I used a phosphoric acid bath to clean the rust, which leaves a phosphate behind. Do you think that this might have reacted with the brick material?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

It was likely the phosphate. In the oven it became corrosive as it melted. Borax will do the same to an oven/kiln floor. The shelf liner will prevent that because it is ceramic.
1"Hard Firebrick - http://hightemptools.com/firebricks.html
Kiln Shelf - https://www.schoolspecialty.com/kil...342&utm_content=Art Supplies - Craft Supplies

 

[Donorcyclist]

It was likely the phosphate. In the oven it became corrosive as it melted. Borax will do the same to an oven/kiln floor. The shelf liner will prevent that because it is ceramic.
1"Hard Firebrick - http://hightemptools.com/firebricks.html
Kiln Shelf - https://www.schoolspecialty.com/kiln-shelf-408282?msclkid=9b1c5fd57c231154268900dd38d905ae&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(ROI) Shopping - Art Supplies&utm_term=4579259772629342&utm_content=Art Supplies - Craft Supplies

Thank you so much, Stacy! No more phosphoric to kill the rust, in my future, and thank you for the links!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Using an acid to etch or remove rust is fine ... as long as you fully rinse it off and neutralize it. Never leave it on the blade after treatment or bad things can happen to the blade.