You should be a world better off with the oil quench.
Clay coat it just the same as last time. Quench straight in and pull it out in about five-six seconds. It should be well past the nose by then (beware !!! It will ignite in a flaming ball, and/or smoke like hell). Give it a fast wipe with a dry rag (which may ignite,too) and check for warp and twist. If there is a warp, put it on the anvil and whack it straight with a wooden mallet (or just use a flat 2-3# hammer). If it has a twist, stick it in a straightening board and give it the necessary tweak. The board is a piece of 2X6 with a 2X1/4" slot in it. Clamp the board in the vise. You can also make a straightening hardy for your hardy hole by welding two pieces of 1/2 round stock on two adjacent sides of a piece of square stock to fit your hardy hole. The gap between the rounds should be 1/4-3/8".
You have about ten to twenty safe seconds to do the straightening, so don't waste time.
Once the twist/warp is QUICKLY straightened, stick it back in the oil to cool for 2-3 minutes. CAUTION - Once the blade is below 400F, don't straighten anymore or it will break. If the twist warp is too severe - anneal, straighten, normalize, and re-do the HT.
The flare up problems can be dealt with a couple of ways.
1) Planning - Have a metal trash can available to drop flaming rags in.
Wear heavy gloves,preferably foundry or smelting gloves.
Have a good fire extinguisher handy. A hose is good,too. But that is
a last ditch effort if things get totally out of control.
Make fire resistant/proof rags. Soak the rags in a saturated solution of
twenty mule team borax for an hour. Hang on the line to dry. Shake off
any loose powder. The rags will not burn readily.
HAVE A TIGHT LID FOR YOUR QUENCH TANK !
Have everything right at hand before starting the HT. Pliers, tongs, vise,
straightening jig, everything.
2) Control - Remove one of the ingredients of combustion. Since heat is not removable
you can exclude oxygen by putting some CO2 or Nitrogen in the top of
the quench tank (Have the rim about 5-6" higher than the oil) .You can
stop the sword from being a torch by wiping all the oil off it with
one fast swipe with a fire retardant rag (remove the fuel). The rag will
carry the burning oil with it, so drop it in the can.
3) Location - Unless you are in a warehouse size shop,with good ventilation and fire
control, do this type of quenching outside. Stay away from buildings,
flammable debris, and have plenty of overhead clearance (15-20 feet).
Be safe, Have fun, Show pictures (preferably of your girlfriend, but sword photos are good ,too.)
Plan this out in your head several times. Plan for every possibility. Do a dry run with the blade cold (or a bar of steel) before you clay coat and heat it up. Get the FEEL of how you are going to move, especially the straightening steps.
Good luck !!!
Stacy
