Marvel mystery oil

D

DanOConnor

Joined
Sep 21, 2009
Messages
11
Hey everyone I was wondering if anyone could help answer a few questions I have.
Yesterday I was getting ready to heat treat a knife I'm working on and wanted to test the steel after quench. I forged the knife out of a file and I still had half of the file left over and decided to test it. I slowly heated it to non magnetic and held it there for a couple of minutes the I quenched it in water. After it had cooled to ambient tempature I laid the end of the file over the side of my anvil and broke it off with my hammer no suprise there. Then I decided to repeat the process again but quench in heated mmo. After the second quench in mmo this time the file did not break but would not bend either. So I tested it with a file and it skated the file easily I was a bit surpised by that.After that brief test I decided to repeat the same process again using the other end of the file I quenched same results as before.
So what I want to know is did I make martensite or pearlite? Why was it very hard and tuff at the same time straight out of quench? was the mmo quench suitable for a knife or not?

Thanks for any answers you can provide.
 
No way to tell, but probably not. Also, the vapors off MMO could be toxic.

The test is pretty much worthless without tempering the steel, anyway. It is in the tempered state that you can tell if yo have any real usable knife results.

I would save the MMO for the lawn mower, and get a gallon of quench oil.
 
Well, you could make a knife, quench it in MMO, and finish/sharpen without tempering. Then destruction test it, bend it, flex the edge, cut test, chop with it, etc. See what happens. The proof is in the pudding.

I'm with Stacy though, I kind of doubt that once you start using it the edge will hold up. (I'm assuming you're talking about using the knife as-quenched.)
 
Would love for there to be another use for MMO.Love the stuff.Aside from recommended use it makes a wicked napalm combined with various ingredients that I will not go into,great for burning out stumps.Was also recommended to me as a lube in extreme cold for my beloved M-14 by a grizzled old timer who played secret squirrel for Uncle Sam for many years.Doesn't quite get arctic here in WI but I have left my rifle out overnight at -30 and she was still smooth as silk the next day and ran flawlessly.
 
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