Quinch oil (AKA Quench Oil)

[wwillimon]

I have done a search and can't seem to find anything on this, so please don't beat me up. Can you use burnt motor oil for quinch? I have used it to temper springs and worked perfect.

 

[fitzo]

You will get more search results by spelling it q-u-e-n-c-h.

 

[wwillimon]

You will get more search results by spelling it q-u-e-n-c-h.

I just thought this was a blade forum, not a spelling forum.

 

[DeadboxHero]

I have done a search and can't seem to find anything on this, so please don't beat me up. Can you use burnt motor oil for quinch? I have used it to temper springs and worked perfect.

Can you?

Of course, no one can stop you, but the results will be poor as expected and it's not what you should do for a quality knife.

If the quality and performance of the knife is very important than it's extremely important to invest into some proper quenching oil so you never have to waste time and energy with half measures.

I highly recommend Parks 50 and a metal container with a lid.

 

[fitzo]

I just thought this was a blade forum, not a spelling forum.

You know, bud, I don't care how you spell it. I was trying to help, though, to get you more search results. You usually get more results if you spell it correctly. Take the chip off your shoulder, for cripes sake.

 

[Michael Black]

"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should" - Jurassic Park

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Welcome to Shop Talk wwillimon. Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you. It will help you get better answers.

What Fitzo's point was that if you search Quench Oil you will find hundreds, maybe thousands, of threads and discussions on the subject. The general best oil for most steels is Parks #50.

There is the Custom Search Engine in the Stickys that will find any subject we have ever talked about here.

 

[wwillimon]

Welcome to Shop Talk wwillimon. Fill out your profile so we know where you live and a bit about you. It will help you get better answers.

What Fitzo's point was that if you search Quench Oil you will find hundreds, maybe thousands, of threads and discussions on the subject. The general best oil for most steels is Parks #50.

There is the Custom Search Engine in the Stickys that will find any subject we have ever talked about here.

I had already done a search and it knew what I mentioned. There were threads all about all kinds of oils but none about motor oil. I did another search on another forum and found that is great for metal quench, because it adds extra carbon. Just have to use in well ventilated areas. The additives produce dangerous fumes.

 

[wwillimon]

You know, bud, I don't care how you spell it. I was trying to help, though, to get you more search results. You usually get more results if you spell it correctly. Take the chip off your shoulder, for cripes sake.

Sir I apologize for my response. I guess I was just expecting someone to give me some kind of smart answer. Deeply sorry!!

 

[fitzo]

Sir I apologize for my response. I guess I was just expecting someone to give me some kind of smart answer. Deeply sorry!!

Accepted and moved on. Thank you, and good luck with your question.

This forum tends toward the technical, so motor oil experience may be limited and responses few. If you haven't seen this site, it is an interesting discussion of quench oils.

Which Quenching Oil is Best for Knives? - Knife Steel Nerds

Which oil to use for quenching knives? Does quenching too fast ruin knives? Can you save money and use canola?

knifesteelnerds.com

 

[DevinT]

I think most quench oils are mineral oil based with additives that prevent the vapor jacket from forming to speed up cooling.

Motor oil is probably too slow to get the full hardness.

Parks 50 is a good investment.

Hoss

 

[polish avenger]

I had already done a search and it knew what I mentioned. There were threads all about all kinds of oils but none about motor oil. I did another search on another forum and found that is great for metal quench, because it adds extra carbon. Just have to use in well ventilated areas. The additives produce dangerous fumes.

For the record, adding extra carbon is a myth.
Welcome to the addiction!

 

[DeadboxHero]

found that is great for metal quench, because it adds extra carbon. Just have to use in well ventilated areas. The additives produce dangerous fumes.

Yikes, very bad information, hopefully you can forget it as fast as you learned it.

 

[J. Hoffman]

You may not find threads on here about quenching in motor oil, but you also won't find any threads discussing quenching in cake batter even though the sugar crystalizes and a creates a hard but crispy shell on you blade. Somethings are just a bad idea.

 

[Contender Machine]

There is a decent chance that more steel has been quenched in used motor oil than in parks 50 so it is no surprise you have found info on that. In a pinch a hot piece of steel quenched in motor oil will make the steel harder, but as others have said there are much better alternatives.

 

[GRapp]

I just thought this was a blade forum, not a spelling forum.

You catch more flies with honey than...motor oil.
Just get a couple gallons of Parks 50 and stop wasting time reading all kinds of stuff on the internet from folks who are regurgitating info. You can quanch (that's how it sounds here) in whatever you want but results will vary. Generally a product made for a task works better than substitutes. I doubt you put corn oil in your motor. For $120 or so you can have enough delivered to quench hundreds or thousands of blades. A question you might consider is quench speed. Different steels like different speeds.

 

[me2]

You can use motor oil. It cools very slowly and for many steels probably doesn't work better than just holding the steel in front of a leaf blower. The reason you couldn't find it here is no one here thinks it's worth the effort. Even steels meant to be quenched in oil aren't quenched in motor oil. They're quenched in faster cooling oils that offer better and more uniform hardening.