Salt bath prep

D

David Werner

Joined
May 5, 2022
Messages
3
Greetings,
I’m close to having a pair of electric salt bath kilns, high and low temp, up and running for heat treatment. I’m hoping that there might be a few others out there who can give me advice on how to ensure my blades are free of volatiles before I find out the dramatic way. Can I use carb cleaner, or something like that, to remove oils, or is that a terrible idea?
Any advice, safety or otherwise, is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
I'll be watching this thread to see what the experts have to say, but I would think the blade cleaned good, (with IPA?) and wiped dry with a cloth would remove any oils that would be a concern. From the Hi-temp salt bath to the low temp wouldn't be an issue.

Let's allow Stacy, Hoss, or others to chime in with real knowledge.
 
Wash it with soap and water
Rinse well with hot water
Dry off with a dry towel
Let sit a little while to air dry
Put in the HIGH pot
If the steel is a slow quench high alloy, like O-1/5160, you can scrape the excess salts off quickly with a wooden slat, then quench in the LOW pot.
If doing a fast quench high carbon low allow steel, like W1/1095/etc. , you just have to live with some degree of contamination of the LOW salts and quench immediately in the LOW pot.

If quenching in oil before tempering in salt, then you can wash it up, wipe it dry, and put in the LOW pot.
 
Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
Wash it with soap and water
Rinse well with hot water
Dry off with a dry towel
Let sit a little while to air dry
Put in the HIGH pot
If the steel is a slow quench high alloy, like O-1/5160, you can scrape the excess salts off quickly with a wooden slat, then quench in the LOW pot.
If doing a fast quench high carbon low allow steel, like W1/1095/etc. , you just have to live with some degree of contamination of the LOW salts and quench immediately in the LOW pot.

If quenching in oil before tempering in salt, then you can wash it up, wipe it dry, and put in the LOW pot.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information, and any old soap will do, or does it need to be something like Dawn?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top