Quenching oils

[jdm61]

The Parks data that I read said that #50 is effective from 70-120F, so 130 is probably at the upper limit if this info is correct. I quench at room temp..........but room temp in Florida is a bit higher than some other places.....usually 80's-90's in the shop or worse I have only had to heat my Parks once and that was back in January when the outside temp was in the high 50's to low 60's and it had been colder that morning. I only heated it to around 100-110 and it worked just fine. On W2, you can see when it hasn't fully hardened. I had that problem with Tough Quench on largish W2 blades even when it was heated to 150, which is it's sweet spot.

 

[Mike Krall]

Well, I am now in another quandary. To warm or not to warm my P50. It seems so divided and my reading had lead me to believe room temperature. If Kevin say he gets good results at 130. I have to believe that is a good way to go because I believe he would have verified his results in a very good manner. But, then again he doesn't seem to believe there is a problem with the cooler application. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I guess I can't be to wrong either way.

In the past I've had good luck e-mailing Park's technical department. I'd guess they would willingly give you an answer.

Mike

 

[Kevin R. Cashen]

Well, I am now in another quandary. To warm or not to warm my P50. It seems so divided and my reading had lead me to believe room temperature. If Kevin say he gets good results at 130. I have to believe that is a good way to go because I believe he would have verified his results in a very good manner. But, then again he doesn't seem to believe there is a problem with the cooler application. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM I guess I can't be to wrong either way.

I think you can rejoice that you have a range to work with a little wiggle room is always a good thing

 

[Phil Dwyer]

Hi friends,

I know I should have this all figured out by now, but... Hope you can advise me for the following steels I'm focusing on.

5160
52100
1084 (by itself and patterned with 15n20)
W2 (someday)

Will Parks 50 suffice for all the above? It sure would be nice to standardize on one oil for now.

Thanks much, Phil

 

[Mike Krall]

Phil,

If it was me and I only wanted to mess with one oil, I'd get some Houghto-Quench "G" from Houghton International (AKA "Brownell's Tough Quench).

I'm not saying that from long, detailed, experimental experience. I've got two reasons, though. 1) Scott McKenzie, Houghton's metallurgist and quench oil specialist told me that would be the way to go and he was talking about the similar Houghton and Park oils. 2) That is what Don Fogg does and he uses, almost exclusively, 10xx series steels.

Mike

The edit: Park #50 and Houghto-Quench "K" are very similar. Park AAA and Houghto-Quench "G" are very similar. The slower oils would seem to do better with out-of-range steels than the faster oils would... or that is what I've learned from folks who have knowlege and experience.

 

[kevin adams]

ok to dovetail off the parks, if using 1084 could someone go through a bare bones quench cycle? time , temp, all i have used previously is 5160, but was able to get a good bit of 1084 from mace. I want to do it justice, and do it right. anyone help would be awesome. I'm glad this came up because i was looking to get get some good quenchant anyway- just didn't know what to get till now. I have one of darrens fine forges. I'm gatering a thermocouple is probably a good idea. You are all so helpfull, and the amount of information traded on a daily basis makes my head swim.

 

[Mike Krall]

Kevin,

If it was me... and you need to understand I'm always going to look for information before I'm going to just dive into something... I'd holler at Don Fogg on Bladesmith Forum and holler at Scott McKenzie on Sword Forum ~ Metallurgy sub-forum about Houghto-Quench "G"/Brownell's Tough Quench and how they use it for 10xx type steels.

With fast steel (1080 and W2), I do one of two things... 1) Normalize 3x's, finish blade, stress relieve at 900-1000 F, air cool... heat to austenitizing temp. for 10 min., and quench, or 2) Normalize 2x's, finish blade, normalize 1x & air cool, heat to austenitizing for 10 min. and quench. Temper afterwards at 400-425F 2x's, min. 1 hr. each.

Right now I feel like I'm better off splitting the normalizing into 2 and 1 if I'm quenching in Houghto-Quench "K" (like Park #50)... seems like I get less warp... but I don't have a way to prove that and may never have.
Mike