question on quenching

[Spinerazor]

Hey Guys, probably a dumb question but can a blade be quenched in vegetable oil or something similar, or even say lard or bacon fat? its a serious question....

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

This is in the wrong forum. It should be in shop talk. Because it almost always flares up into a big ruckus, I am going to answer it here.

The topic has been discussed to death, but the short answer is YES, Vegi oil can be used as a quenchant.

It Depends on the steel, but Canola oil works for many steel types. It is a tad slow for 1095 and W1/W2, but is OK for 5160, 1084, 1075, etc. Other vegi oils, motor oil, lard, bacon fat, etc. are not good for quenching.

Most stories of "Quenching in bear/bacon/goose fat" being good, are just folk tales or based on when a pioneer had no idea about how to properly harden a knife. He just used what he had on hand.


An engineered ( commercial) quenchant woks better and longer. What ever you use you need enough of it. One gallon is minimal, two works better for a regular size knife. Most folks who do any sort of regular work on knives use three to five gallon of quenchant.

Here is the search engine for Bladeforums. Put it in your browser bar and use it to find almost anything you want.http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=011197018607028182644%3Aqfobr3dlcra

 

[Spinerazor]

Thanks for the response, i'm going to do some searching and some reading!