Parks 50 or 2 Gallons of canola and other quench questions

Greenberg Woods

Greenberg Woods

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Dec 27, 2013
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Hey Guys, Im planning on upgrading my queching set up. Right now im using a cut off nitrogen cylinder containing about .7 gallons of canola oil. Not optimal, I know.

Im debating between buying a 5 gallon bucket of parks 50 from Kelly Cupples and buying a 50 cal ammo container from ebay and filling it with 2 gallons of Canola.

For the parks 50, does the bucket it comes in work well enough as a quench tank?
 
I would use the bucket to quench in only if it was a metal bucket, but that's just me. Does it come in a metal bucket?
 
Parks 50 has a much faster quenching speed than Canola, if I recall correctly. Depending on what steel you are using the Canola might be better that the Parks. Always use a metal quench tank.
 
I've never had problems quenching something too fast in Parks. O1, 52100, 80CRV2.

I've had many issues quenching too slow in Citgo Quenchol.

For me, Parks 50 is the only quench oil I use anymore, for any oil quenching alloy.

It comes in a plastic pail.
 
Ben, you can quench too fast if you are doing thin blades of deeper hardening steel. Parks oil used to come in 5 gallon steel buckets, but I don't know if Mr. Cupples is buying drums and breaking it down. The McMaster -Carr medium fast oil that I bought came in a 5 gallon plastic bucket. My two "tanks" are a Home Depot Bayou Classic turkey fryer and a 120mm mortar round canister.
 
Greenberg Woods said:
What about parks for steels like O1?

And I checked, they fit just about 2 gallons in a 50cal
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I don't know anyone using a 50 BMG can for quenching. That's a very small volume. It will overheat quickly. Look for the 20mm or mortar cans. The BMG can would probably be OK if you are just making slippies.
 
Kelly ships parks in a metal bucket with a bung type top so you can't use it to quench.

If maxim sells it in 5 gallons they may be cheaper. I don't know how the ship.
Greenberg Woods said:
Hey Guys, Im planning on upgrading my queching set up. Right now im using a cut off nitrogen cylinder containing about .7 gallons of canola oil. Not optimal, I know.

Im debating between buying a 5 gallon bucket of parks 50 from Kelly Cupples and buying a 50 cal ammo container from ebay and filling it with 2 gallons of Canola.

For the parks 50, does the bucket it comes in work well enough as a quench tank?
Click to expand...

R.C.Reichert said:
I would use the bucket to quench in only if it was a metal bucket, but that's just me. Does it come in a metal bucket?
Click to expand...
 
Get the park's. Bought the 5er back in August and never looked back despite paying 30% extra (CAD). I get far more activity from W1 with parks than I ever got with canola, and im not crackingblades like I was with brine.

I use old gas cylinders (for welding) as quench tanks. Just cut the top off and fit a lid. They're a bit heavy but you can get em for free and they are a perfect shape IMO.
 
Canola oil will become a worse and worse quenchant the more you use it. Parks 50 is a specifically formulated quenchant designed for the task at hand. It might not seem it, but this question is not all that different from "should I make my knife out of an old file I have lying around, or should I get a piece of 1084 from NJSB?"

Use known steel. Use proper quenchants.
 
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I get my parks from kelly, mburks is correct, its got the bunghole (never imagined id say that in a context that wasnt raunchy). And as others have stated, you can't beat the mortar cans for cheap and simple vertical quench tank. Mine holds all 5 gallons with about 5 inches to spare so i never worry about spills. Try local army navy surpluses before you order one online. I snagged 2 for $30 locally a few years back saving on shipping. I was told recently though that since military is currently using the middle east as a giant garbage dump that surplus rstores are having trouble getting more though as they just leave em there to rot or be turned into paki damascus lol snag em while ya can.
 
i know its already been said but if you use a plastic container, and the top layer of the oil catches fire, ( happens to me now and then, and can only be put out by snuffing, you cannot blow it out) the lip of the container goes soft, and your flaming oil spills, heating the rest of the plastic container, and you know what happens next. pvc is thicker but that is unsafe too.
 
I'd definitely get some Parks. I priced it out a few years ago, and Maxim was considerably cheaper for 5 gallons than Kelly Cupples was, but I also live in Indiana, so I imagine shipping from WA state might have also been a small factor, vs. shipping from TX.

For My quench tank, I just use a 6" PVC pipe, but I lined it with a sheet metal flue pipe to keep from accidentally stabbing the knife through the side. I haven't had any problems whatsoever in the years that I've been using it, and that includes the time I accidentally forgot to turn the water heater element off for about 15 minutes, and the oil got up to around 450 degrees or so. The PVC was VERY flexible at that point, but the sheet metal kept it upright.

Now, I will admit that one of my future projects will be a steel quench tank, likely with a PID setup and possibly even a circulation pump and/or radiator setup to keep the oil at temp. I've got about 1700 more projects ahead of that one though, so it may be a while. :D
 
The lids of the "bunghole" steel buckets can be removed. Jut bend up those little tabs and pop it right off.WhenI got my second batch of oil, I used my Parks bucket as a quench tank for a little while until got the mortar canister because the McMaster-Carr went into the turkey fryer pot.
 
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