rack for heat treat oven

[pso]

Would aluminum channel work as a rack for holding my blades in a heat treat oven? If not, what could I use? I have access to lots of zinc plated steel sheet.

Thanks.

Phil

 

[RARanney]

No, aluminum melts around 1000 degrees, and your blades will be going way higher than that (upper teens). Zinc fumes are quite toxic. I don't have such an oven myself, but those that do will probably answer you shortly as to what they use.

 

[peter nap]

Phil, if you are talking about an oven to harden the steel in then you cannot use aluminum however if you are just tempering the aluminum will work fine.

 

[J WORKMAN]

Phil,

I use a firebrick with 1/8" holes drilled into it spaced about a 1/4" apart. Then I take 1/8" stainless steel welding rods with the flux removed from them, cut them about 2" long, then insert them into the drilled holes in the brick. Depending on how many knives you are heat treating is how many pins you will need. Stainless steel welding rods last a long time with the heat that the oven produces. Make sure before you use the brick at high temperature you put it in the oven at a couple hundred degrees to drive out any moisture in the brick.

J Workman

 

[R Dannemann]

Been using a rack made of welded mild steel, I get a lot of scale which I sweep out of the oven when cool but the price is right. Holds 20 wrapped blades and about 12 inches square.

Plans about for two more racks of welded stainless to avoid the scale.

 

[Dan Gray]

I just saw cut grooves in to soft fire brick,
just deep enough to set the spine into..

 

[TANGUS]

Phil,

I've done the same that Workman suggested, except in my propane forge, I simply halved the firebrick (to save height), installed the pins, secured them with JB Weld and they are holding fine after about 25 knives worth--Dan