Quenching question.

[beaster456]

So I have a fairly large knife I'm about to heat treat. I've been using a coffee can but its not tall enough. I also have a large ball jar that would work but I'm worried it might crack. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Grayzer86]

I would try to track down a piece of steel pipe that is longer than you think you need. 6x24-30 should do the trick. Then weld a plate on the bottom to seal it up an give it a base to stand on. That or a good old steel 5 gallon pail.

 

[quint]

Cant say I really recommend it but I still use one for my conola oil and that is a section of the larger black pvc from lowes. I bought about 2 feet, glued the cap on one end. Bedded this in a bucket full of sand and bought another cap that I use to close off the top when not in use. Works great just be accurate and dont drop a blade (knocks on wood). Mine will just drain to the bucket full of sand if I did but it would still be a pain.

 

[12345678910]

So I have a fairly large knife I'm about to heat treat. I've been using a coffee can but its not tall enough. I also have a large ball jar that would work but I'm worried it might crack. Anyone have any suggestions?

It's not just the height of the blade you have to worry about, what about the volume of the oil.

Are you using enough.


Remember a container can also be horizontal like an oven roasting pan, or water trough,

 

[quint]

The nice thing about the trough style is that if it does flare up for whatever reason your hands and arms are not directly above the oil. Granted you should be wearing your PPE but things happen.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

A quench tank to should durable, resilient to heat (meaning most likely made of steel) and should contain more oil than you think you need, as well as deep enough to thoroughly immerse the blade in the quenchant. A gallon if quenchant, in my mind, is kind of an absolute minimum.