Plate Quenching?

[Cooter DeGraw]

What is plate quenching? What steels is it used with? How is it done? Where does one get the equipment to work with? Thanks Tom Hollowell (aka Cooter)

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Plate quenching is cooling down steels that are Air Cool Steels.Stainless steel is the main thing done by plate quenching.
It is inserting the hot blade between two heavy plates of a good heat conductor (usually aluminum) and clamping them with firm pressure. This avoids warpage and speeds cooling.The equipment is two big plates of aluminum and some way to clamp them onto the blade - a vise often.Some makers just lay one plate flat and put the other on top of the blade.Blowing compressed air between the plates can speed cooling even more.
Hope that helps.
Stacy

 

[jhiggins]

Here's my setup, Tom. Two 1.25" plates attached to a quick-release wood vise. Easy. Fast. Effective.

 

[tmickley]

Good one Jeffy, I'm going to copy your set up.

Here's my setup, Tom. Two 1.25" plates attached to a quick-release wood vise. Easy. Fast. Effective.

 

[jhlarri]

I understand the concept, but i just dont get it in practice.... maybe i just have to see it done. what i dont understand is the plates will not touch the beveled part of the knife, will it? how does it cool that part fast? am i missing something?

 

[jhiggins]

I understand the concept, but i just dont get it in practice.... maybe i just have to see it done. what i dont understand is the plates will not touch the beveled part of the knife, will it? how does it cool that part fast? am i missing something?

Aluminum, by its nature conducts heat very rapidly. This is why you see aluminum heat sinks on the backs of amplifires and other electric gizmos. By using two aluminum plates, you are sucking the heat out of the steel at a rapid rate. Rapid, yet gentle. I'm sure that Mete could explain it better, or the other metalurgy gurus (miss you, Fitzy) here.

All I know is that I love it. Its fast and clean. The blades are tough as nails, and when combined with a cryo dunk, they are very very hard!

 

[jhiggins]

Good one Jeffy, I'm going to copy your set up.

If you have any questions, Tracy, give me a holler. All I did was weld up a couple angle irons to form a mounting bracket to make the whole setup verticle. Pretty simple. The quick-release feature is very nice to have also. I think the vise is a Palmgren out of MSC, IIRC.

 

[Cooter DeGraw]

Thanks for the picture Jeff --am going to copy your setup also--as you probably have read, got a furnace project going as well---have found that as I acquire more equipment that I am managing to squeeze myself out of my small shop--Wife has emphatically stated that I may not start moving "my stuff" into the house. Thanks Tom Hollowell(Cooter)

 

[leon.pugh]

jhiggins do you plate quench carbon steels such as 1095? I do not work with carbon steels much but i plan on doing a few. I mostly work with cpm 3v, s30v & D2. I do not have a need show a hamon. I build mostly serious working & hunting knifes. I need to learn more about carbon steel techniques.

Leon

 

[fitzo]

Mr Pugh, I am not Higgy thankfully, but can tell you that the 'quench times" for the plain carbon steels are too quick for using plates.

The air hardening steels all have had reports of success, down to about A2 in alloy content.

There was an attempt by one gent reported to quench a profiled, non-beveled folder blade of 3/32" O1, and the hardness only got up to 56. Too slow. That would suggest avoiding it for non-air hardening steels.

Personally, I would recommend a commercial quench oil selected for the type of low alloy steel you choose.

 

[J.Marsillo]

What are the size limits for quenching plates?
I was in a surplus store (indoor scrapyard) the otherday and they had some nice aluminum plates with heat sinks.The plate itself was maybe 4" x 3" by 3/8" thick with 1" fins.
I dont currently do air hardening steels,but they might be nice for future expariment.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Too small to be of much use for knives.You need more thermal mass.Unless there is a very active cooling system added to the plates a good rule of thumb might be 20-30 times the volume of the blade.

 

[psycho78]

so....you just take the hot stainless blade out of the forge/oven, stick it between those two aluminum plates in the vice, clamp it down and wait until it cools off all the way? What about tempering?

I know how to quench and temper carbon steels...but this is new to me too. I'd have a stainless blade sent off usually.

sorry for being a n00b, but I just want to learn this stuff too.