quenchant

Evan Martin

Evan Martin

Joined
Aug 6, 2007
Messages
521
I've read the fifty dollar knife shop and I wanted to see what ya'll thought about the goop he uses with mixture of bacon grease wax and hydrolic fluid. Is that good to use it seem kind of like a mix of a brine and oil quench (with the salt content ) use it or stick with a oil designed for quenching steal probably cleaner

any feed back is greatly aprechiated

evan
 
There's nothing wrong with playing around with differant quenchants. That said I now prefere to use comercial quenchant for repeatability. I could mix up something and play with it till I got the results I want, but it's faster and easier in the long run to buy what I need.

I have tried the "goop" quench and the mix I made was a bit fast for most of the steels I use, though it worked great on damascus. The main reason I don't use it now is flame-ups and it's more trouble for me than it's worth. That and everytime I quenched a blade I got hungry from the odor or frying bacon.

What you use to quench with is not as important as how you quench. Most mediums for quench can be played with to get it faster or slower as needed. Commercial quenchant just makes it a bit easier than trying to re-invent the the wheel and one batch is consistant to the next. Not that I didn't learn a good bit and have fun playing with differant oils, old candles and such. I still want to try some water quenched blades if I ever get time.
 
All I cant tell you is the quench oil Darren sells has been great to work with. No flare ups even cooling. Also when its time to get more I wont have to reinvent my hardening process.
 
Not to hijack this thread, but how does ATF work as a quenchant? Any flare up problems? Is it a "fast quench" oil? That stuff seems like it would be a bit more flammable than say, vegetable oil. Thanks.
- Mitch
 
I used Atf for quite awhile before I got some quench oil from Darren. It had very little flare and it worked for my 1095 and 15n20 damascus so its pretty fast. When I edge quenched like this I would get a harmon also. It does have a special smell.


Hey I just read the did I mess up thread. Thats about how mine came out to
 
ib2v4u said:
I used Atf for quite awhile before I got some quench oil from Darren. It had very little flare and it worked for my 1095 and 15n20 damascus so its pretty fast. When I edge quenched like this I would get a harmon also. It does have a special smell.


Hey I just read the did I mess up thread. Thats about how mine came out to
Click to expand...

Thanks:thumbup: I'm supposed to receive some of that 5160H from Burton today....I'm gonna try edge quenching it with the ATF.
- Mitch
 
Good quenchants will rely on many factors, thermal extraction through conduction and convection being high on the list. These are strongly influenced by viscosity, fact- heating an oil will lower its viscosity and increase it quenching ability. Conduction is strongly influenced by the direct contact the medium can make in its total coverage of the quenching surface; that is why vapor jackets can totally defeat the quenching action. Then the medium has to have the ability to move the quickly away into the cooler volume surrounding it. I could go on, but I can’t believe I have rationalized this as much as I have…

Would lard or solid fats be a conductor or an insulator? What is its purpose on many animals? How does a semi-solid goo jive with the proven principles mentioned above? How does one agitate goo?

Why do I feel I know better than the file test? Because I have spent too much time looking directly at the inside of blades quenched in stuff that passed the file test. For me the whole goo thing has always been a much more interesting study in human psychology than quenching technology.

I left that last bit as a rhyme for style, kind of like the late Johnnie Cochran;)
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Good quenchants will rely on many factors, thermal extraction through conduction and convection being high on the list. These are strongly influenced by viscosity, fact- heating an oil will lower its viscosity and increase it quenching ability. Conduction is strongly influenced by the direct contact the medium can make in its total coverage of the quenching surface; that is why vapor jackets can totally defeat the quenching action. Then the medium has to have the ability to move the quickly away into the cooler volume surrounding it. I could go on, but I can’t believe I have rationalized this as much as I have…

Would lard or solid fats be a conductor or an insulator? What is its purpose on many animals? How does a semi-solid goo jive with the proven principles mentioned above? How does one agitate goo?

Why do I feel I know better than the file test? Because I have spent too much time looking directly at the inside of blades quenched in stuff that passed the file test. For me the whole goo thing has always been a much more interesting study in human psychology than quenching technology.

I left that last bit as a rhyme for style, kind of like the late Johnnie Cochran;)
Click to expand...

No, Kevin, please...continue to rationalize....I better understand the subject matter when you rationalize. Thank you for explaining...I understand things when you explain the Principles at work "behind the scenes."
- Mitch
 
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