Quench tank for 1 gallon for 9" blade

[ashwinearl]

I have 1 gallon of Parks 50 in a metal paint can. It works well for lengths in 7" or under range. Anything longer and I get concerned with flare ups with any of the tang that is sticking out.

I am working on one 9" long and am looking for suggestion for different tank. I don't have any metal fabrication tools outside of the basic stuff for knifemaking (grinder, small bandsaw, drill press)

The basic 50cal metal ammo container from Harbor Freight is one I am thinking of. My concern is that 1 gallon won't fill it up much and if the high sides will get in the way. I see there is a 30cal can that is smaller?

7qt slow cooker?

Another idea I saw suggested was a metal dry wall mud tray.
This one is 14" long. It lacks the convenience and safety of a lid that the ammo box has

Thanks

*edit* I think the answer was under my bench. I can saw the top off an use it for quench then pour it back into the paint can for storage

 

[Busto]

That mud tray is a leaker!! If you have a steel fab shop in your area check with them for a 4"X4" square tube and a piece of flat plate and see if they can weld the plate to the bottom for a minimal charge...just use another piece of plate for a flat lid....Not fancy but certainly sturdy enough for quenching liquid at temperature.

 

[seanj]

My first quench tank was a 30 caliber ammo can. It is almost exactly 1 gallon. In other words it's just below the rim. Personally I would prefer something larger. I now use a 81 mm Mortar ammo can which holds five gallons.
I'm not sure how much liquid a 50 caliber ammo can holds, but I like the ammo cans in general because they are water tight and seal able.

 

[Steve Beckwith]

I use a 105 mm cannon casing

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

For many years, I quenched in a 4" shell casing. Don't remenber exactly what the volume was ... probably close to 2 gallons.

BTW, a single gallon is probably a bit less than you need for a 9" blade.

 

[DAMNENG]

There is 57.75cubic inches in a qt. or 231 cubic in. per gal. so you can figure out the volume of anything you might consider for a quench tank.
For vertival quench tanks, I have used old gallon acetone and alchol cans, metal umbrella holders, square steel tube with a cap on one end and a wide base added, old fire extinguishers and even an old stainless steel toilet brush holder.
For horizontal tanks: a section of aluminum gutter with the ends epoxied in place (use screws with the epoxy) filled with oil and suspended in a bath of water in a plastic window box planter.
Just make sure you use things that won't melt if you touch the blade to them, have a upper surface that lays in a plane so you can lay something flat on top to snuff out flames and something that won't let flaming oil excape if you accidentally bump it!

 

[i4Marc]

Go to your local compressed gasses distributor. Ask for an out of spec CO2 tank. Cut off the top third or so using an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel. If you have access to a welder you can make some handles from rebar and weld those on near the top to help with moving the tank around. Easy peasy. These kind of tanks also work well for dry ice baths as well.