Fred, I have some suggestions for your tank:
Change the plumbing so the oil is pumped up from the bottom of the tank. It will create agitation that will greatly increase the efficiency of the oil.
You will have to reverse the in/out fittings on the pump. Make a simple "J" tube that is inside the tank to send the oil jet directly up the center. This will give you the best oil cooling of the blades.
Even if you don't change the direction of the oil flow Please put the top tube below the oil surface. With it above the surface, and thus hot oil being sprayed into the tank from the air ( like it is now) it is a fire disaster waiting to happen. Think what would happen if it was deflected out of the tank accidentally while the 1500F blade was being inserted into the tank. You could be spraying flaming oil all over the shop floor.
Stacy
Stacy,
I have had this same conversation with other smiths and the consensus is with you; about the direction of flow.
Even though I am not fully convinced, I believe there is merit to your line of reasoning.
My thinking is; there is too little gpm [1 gpm] being produced by this pump to influence the quench in any measurable way; at least as far as dissipating the heat from the blade, by the flow of cooler oil coming from the pipe. Too small a time frame and too little flow, is involved.
I do believe, there is more agitation produced by the flow coming from the top; because of its proximity to the blade itself. My main objective, in building this, was to disrupt the thermal envelope that surrounds the blade when inserted into the quench, thus relieving me of the need to move the blade about in the oil.
If I bring the oil in from the bottom, the proximity of the inlet tube, to the blade, would be farther, therefore less agitation relative to the blades position and therefore not producing the desired effect.
The picture shows the inlet tube above the fluid, which is not the case in normal operation. It is always submerged. Fire scares me
.
One of the side benefits of the pump is being able to run the fluid out of the container, by repositioning the top tube and engaging the motor.
This allows me to move the oil to other containers that might be needed for edge quenching or the like.
This is not an optimum setup, by any means; I am always looking for ways to improve the product that comes from my shop, as knife makers tend to do.
My fantasy quench tank would be similar to one of those flush toilets with the tank positioned, high on the wall, above it.
There would be a foot valve that would flush the quench oil from the tank across the submerged blade and into a lower reservoir; where it would be collected and pumped into the upper tank for the next "flush".
This is still in the planning stage
As always, I appreciate your comments and advice and especially your concern as to working safely in the shop.
Fred
I have been playing with the manual side needle valve, on the chariot and have found that it can be adjusted to such a position, relative to set point, that the pid controller activates 3 or 4 times in a minute instead of the of and on ever couple of seconds cycling.
I really value your opinion and don't want to glean the wrong info here. Thx
