Quench Tanks

J.McDonald Knives

J.McDonald Knives

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Jan 28, 2007
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I was just curious if a bluing tank or the thing dry wall people use when taping and floating dry wall would work as a quench tank? I would like to be able to quench 18-20".
 
Until your making knives that large I wouldn't worry about it.

A larger tank takes more energy and time to heat up so it's a waste for smaller blades.
 
Jacob, you might be able to go on E-bay and get a used steam table pan. Check the dimensions carefully to see if it would work for you. I recently picked one up for about $9 plus shipping. A large roasting pan from the thrift shop would probably do it too. A drywall mud pan will leak on you and most of them are a bit on the flimsy side. -Matt-
 
I just ordered some from all-wall. 3 1/2" deep stainless with heli-arc welded seams. I'll let you know how they look.
 
hardheart said:
I just ordered some from all-wall. 3 1/2" deep stainless with heli-arc welded seams. I'll let you know how they look.
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You definitely have a better source than Home Depot! I duct taped the seams on a standard mud pan...it leaked in short order! :D I should have known better, but I had to at least try it. -Matt-
 
Drywall pans won't hold enough oil to quench much of a blade
without the oil temp rising quite a bit, They also dont have much room
to agitate the blade.
Roasting ovens are a bit better, but still not very deep, and the
heat controls are very inaccurate. If you try one, make sure to have
a good thermometer.

Better still would be a large pipe that would allow you to quench
vertically, and have room to move the blade around in the oil.....
Less warpage & more consistant results.
 
I second what Russ said.

My quench tanks are all at least 30" long/deep.

5-6" diam. pipe with an end cap welded on works well. It allows you to lift and lower the blade from top to bottom to constantly expose it to "fresh" oil.

My horizontal tank for clay coated blades is 12" diam. pipe with end panels welded on and a 4" wide slot in the top (full length). I currently have about 10 gallons of Park #50 in this tank, but it will easily hold 15.

All of them have a pipe nipple welded on to house a water heater element for pre-heating.

Whatever you're quenching, I'm a firm believer that more quenching medium is better. :)
 
One thing worth mentioning is that if you use a vertical tank, make sure you PLUNGE!! that knife into the oil. Don't waste any time! As the hot blade enters the oil, it HEATS the oil! The last portion of the blade going in is contacting oil that has already absorbed a great deal of heat, so that steel is getting cooled at a different rate!
Nick has a really good point on his large tank. Use the absolute largest tank you can afford to fill!! I use two tanks - one of Tex "A" for my 5160, and one of Parks #50 for the simple/fast steel. Both tanks are welded 10" square and 2 feet long. If filled, they hold about 8 gallons. Both are on wheels so they can be moved around.
That was a really good reference on quench media and methods and cooling rates.
Nice little discussion.
 
Thanks guys. I'm just trying to find a better tank than my huge pan I have now. I only have 2 gallons of Parks 50.
 
yeah, the listing is screwy, I had to search for 'half tank' to find it. I don't know why they charge the same price, though.

Can somebody give me a hand with specific heats and such, I was never good at that. From what I've monkeyed out, the energy used to raise a pound of steel (specific heat for it being hard to nail, I went with 460 J/kg-K) from 80F to 1550F, was enough energy to raise 1.2 pounds of water from 80F to 210F. This takes nothing into account, like how the water around the hot metal is going to boil, I was just wondering with the discussion of needing a large volume of quenchant. Kinda got me wondering, like would dipping a hot knife in the ocean really do any better than an Olympic sized swimming pool, or a bathtub (assuming the same quenchant in each, but that would be a nasty bath).

and maybe someone can use this, materials properties lists
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/material-properties-t_24.html
 
I use surplus mortar cans. They hold up to 5 quarts of fluid. All steel with a rubber seal on the lids.
Scott
 
J.McDonald Knives said:
I was just curious if a bluing tank or the thing dry wall people use when taping and floating dry wall would work as a quench tank? I would like to be able to quench 18-20".
Click to expand...


For bad or worse, I use a 1 gal. coffee can, and have started using a bread tin that the wife was throwing away because of rust.

If I find that the quench is getting too hot, I'll put water (water bath) into the over flow tray to keep it cooler.

You know your quenchant is too hot when you put a thicker piece in and it flames, then bubbles like a piece of chicken then overflows the tank :eek: !

Jim L.
 
I use a solvent tank from Napa. It has a circulation pump and I put a heating element in also. The top closes for storage and in case of flare-ups. It holds about 5 gal. I also drilled the top and installed a thermometer
 
Try stopping by a restraunt supply store and ask for a half width, full lenght, deep hotel pan or steam table pan. They are stainless steel and you can get a cover lid to snuff out fires. I believe they are 20L x 6W x 6D. Mine holds about two gallons of oil. If you look around you can find used ones pretty cheap. I need to add some mods to mine for a heater element and a gasket for the lid when I store it. However, it make a good tank as is.
 
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