Quench Tanks

A quench tank is anything that can safely hold enough quenchant to do the job, and won't break, leak, or burn. It has to be sturdy and have a tight lid.

I have steam table pans, whole fish pans (similar to what R.Mark Lee was talking about), Bill Moran's old 2 gallon coffee pot ( my pride and joy !), 4" artillery shells, syrup tanks, and 4-6" pipe with a big round plate welded on the bottom (one is 40" deep, for swords, and has a 24" base plate). I also made a set of tanks from small water heaters. The 10 gallon tank has a cooling unit,too. With all these, I use Bill's coffee pot for most small knives, and the 24"X6" pipe tank for larger blades.

The quantity of quenchant has upper limits, around 20 gallons is the max for any real gain. Ten gallons is the practical max for all but a large shop. There is, however, a very real lower limit. Less than one gallon may not properly quench a blade. Two gallons is what I recommend as a minimum. While a coffee can of ATF may work, it is not optimal.
Using a mason jar is just plain stupid. (sorry if that offended any mason jar quenchers, but this is not up for debate).
A visit to a scrap yard will turn up a host of possibilities for cheap quench tanks.
I am not advising anyone to "liberate" a soda tank, but they make a great quench tank, and are easy to find. I've never paid more than $2 for one. They are great for storing oil in, too.
Stacy
 
Yeah, yeah yeah....all of you mechanically inclined guys talk about welding this and circulation pump that like it is an everyday thing. Some of us couldn't weld two nails together with a gun to our head assuming we could find a convenient welding rig.....lol. For folks like us looking for a horizontal tank, go on Cooking.com and look at the biggest, cheap old school enameled roasting pan......the ones with the speckled finish like Grandma used to have. The big one is a hair over 19 inches on the diagonal and will easily hold 3+ gallons of oil, so it will handle pretty much any knife. The lid can also serve as a second tank. For vertical, how about a 30 quart turkey fryer pot? And if you buy the starter kit at HD, you get a propane burner, a large immersion thermometer and stand with it too. And I know this because after much frustration trying to find components that didn't require welding and other skills that I do not have, I bought these myself:D
 
ok, so for two gallons of quenchant in a vertical pipe, you want about a three foot column in a four inch ID pipe, a two foot column in five inch, around 16 inches in a six inch pipe, and a foot of oil in a seven inch pipe is right at it.

Just guessing at the top/bottom width of the mud pans, I think the 24" is only gonna hold a gallon. I'll figure out something to do with them.
 
I use an old pressure cooker. Holds about about 4 gallons. and it had a lid that stays on with a slight twist. Usually a few of them at second hand stores. Works for me.
 
Another thing that works good is one of those old fashioned milk cans. I bet they are about 4 gal. and even have a lid.
 
Discarded fire extinquishers work well. I use two 5" diameter alluminum extinguishers. One for oil and one for brine. They hold just about 3 gallons each after cutting off the neck. The flue caps at Lowes fit perfect for lids.

I tried a decertified scuba tank a few years ago which worked but was a pain to make a stable base for it. I never got around to have a base heli-arced to it. I just sat it in a drywall bucket full of sand. Once you really start looking around, everthing you look at looks like it would work. A freind used an old metal tackle box from back in the sixties.
 
got the mud pans, 4" top, 2.5" at the bottom, 3.5" deep
I ordered 10/18/24", the welds look fine
too bad they won't hold enough quenchant, but maybe I can use water in them for cooling/cleaning after low temp salt

 
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