Putting a pipe/muffle in an Evenheat?

[Tenebr0s]

There was a thread a couple weeks ago about dealing with the problem of exposed coils in Evenheats (I'm specifically referring to the KH series, which measure a fairly narrow 6.5" x 4.25" inside). Nathan the Machinist offered some really good advice about overshooting the temp a bit, before you put the knife in the oven, so that the oven doesn't have to fire the coils so much after you put the knife in. I'm wondering, would it help to put a large steel pipe in the oven to further even out the temp and protect the knives from the exposed coils?

 

[MeatRobot]

Thats a good idea, the thermal mass would help when you open the door wouldn't cool down as fast, I am going to try next time I heat treat.

 

[S.Alexander]

The problem I see, is that the pipe would probably hit the thermocouple that sticks down into the middle of the kiln. I would also think that the temperature in the muffle would be lower than where the thermocouple sits. If you could put a second thermocouple in the muffle that would solve the problem.

If I recall, I think Nathan just uses pieces of HT foil to shield the knives. Seems like a reasonably easy solution to me.

 

[butcher_block]

you can get L shapped kiln "furniture" and build high sides that are still thin but protect from direct coil energy

 

[Tenebr0s]

Foil isn't a good choice for me, since I'm working with shallow hardening steels and I need to get into quench ASAP. I'm looking into the kiln furniture idea now...


EDIT: S.Alexander, I didn't realize you were talking about a shield made from a loose foil packet. That could be a great solution.