Set Pro Programming Query

ddavelarsen

ddavelarsen

Joined
Dec 7, 2000
Messages
5,179
(Nice pun, huh? :D)

Rather than suffer the pain of experimentation unless I have to I thought some of you with experience might answer this question for me:

Instead of ramping up to the first segment temp for normalizing, can I enter 00:00 for ramp time to have it heat up "immediately"? Or do I need to estimate how long it takes to get to temp on its own and time it accordingly?

This is probably a dumb question but you're all right, programming that thing is not for the faint of heart and I'd rather not add too much more gray hair to what I've already earned. ;) Thanks for any help.
 
Put it on Full heat scotty and stand back, unless you wanting something to ramp up slow or take all day to get to normalizing heat. At full it still takes mine about 45 minutes to get to 1600. But I did put a stainless steel 4" pipe and cut a firebrick and put it towards the back of the oven to protect the blades from those back coils, so this will cause it to take a bit longer to heat up. Mines also the 22" model, so thats a lot of heating to do too.

Bill
 
Thanks Bill, I think that's what I need to know. Raymond Richard also recommended putting a pipe in the oven, so I'm going to get the one out of my propane forge and do that too. Today's the day... :D
 
Dave

Full speed ramp can be acheived by either 9999 or (much easier) all the way down, which reads 'FULL'. I don't recall which model you have, but the 22.5" model is almost 20% more powerful (3600 watts) than the 13.5 and 18 inch models. There is no way it should take 45 minutes to reach 1600 degrees. I allow mine an hour to ramp up to preheat and I do that by entering the same value for ramp as for preheat temperature. I don't know anyone who recommends that specifically (except for a few specific steels), but it seems more gentle to me and I though that maybe someday, it might avoid a stress crack. Enjoy!

Rob!
 
Rob, there might be no way it should, but I can guarantee you it takes that long for mine, and that is set on full.

Bill
 
my evenheat is 27" on the inside..but with the rampmaster
I haven't timed it but it must be taking about 45 min or so to heat to there
about an hour I think to 1950
 
Watching mine heat to 1500 for the normalizing cycles, it took about 40 minutes to come to temp. I don't know whether that was because I had timed it to take an hour or because that's how long it takes to accumulate that much heat. What I'm going to do is reprogram it to come to temp as quicly as possible and just see how long it takes. I'll redo my program for that and schedule a 30 minute hold there, which is about how long it took to snap temper three times.

One thing that I didn't do that makes me go "DUH" in retrospect, is coat the blade with PBC before the normalizing cycles. :rolleyes: I was just too excited and nervous to do everything just right... :o I'll get it next time!

I'd be interested in learning anyone's O1 recipes for the oven. This is much different than doing it on a whim and a prayer in the propane forge, and I'm really psyched to realize how much control and replicability (is that a word?) I can depend on. This is only going to make my knives perform better sooner. I really want to get everything I can out of O1 before I move on to another steel, so all of your feedback is greatly appreciated.

One thing that truly made my heart sing was taking the blade out of the oven and quenching it... I'd never seen it so uniform in color and quench so cleanly. It was absolutely an inspiring sight. Once I've completely nailed O1 I'll move on to other steels, and see what I can get. The idea of consitently building a working knife that will perform for an entire deer season without touchup would be fantastic. I've had a few that will do this but it's been more an exception than a rule that I can faithfully duplicate. That's why I got the oven - to assume control to build the best knives I can.

Thanks for all the assistance, and I really would like to learn what others do with this basic steel.
 
Dave, if you haven't yet, take copious notes in a bound book. Section it by steel. Leave a couple pages in front for maintenance notes, footnotes, etc.

I say this because your furnace is going to probably read a little different than the next guy's. Thermocouples are +/- 3%, so a 6% range at 1500 can make crucial difference.

Do test tabs and try the new file/old file routine and bracket the recommended range. Remember to place the tabs right where you'll be putting blades. Furnaces are a chaotic environment and not as consistent inside as we'd like to think. Butthead's idea about the tube is great! Though it sounds like a lot of work, 6-10 test cycles will have you right on where you want to be. What i liked to do was run the cycles and rockwell at dead hard so I could get that hardness where the factory said it could get. By then you'll know how to program that &^%#&^%$ Setpro.

Have a blast. A whole new world.... :)
 
Hey Dave.

My favorite knifemaker got a oven?

Now your knives will cut as good as they look.:D I have been away for awhile and i missed what you got. What is it? Can you do BG42 and S30V in it too?


Michael
 
Fitzo, thanks for the reminder about keeping copious notes! I've heard you guys say that before but I had not made that provision for myself; I will now, thanks.

Michael I got an Evenheat 22.5" oven from Tim Zowada. It's just cooler'n a moose. And yeah, there's no steel I can't work with now, all I need is to find heat treat specs for them. That sounds like it should be pretty simple but many folks have done a lot of experimentation to "hone" in on the perfect method. (Couldn't help mysef.)

Fitz's suggestion to take notes is along that line; eventually, having heat treated and tested about a gazillion blades I'll know exactly how to get the most out of about anything...presumably. ;) It's time for me to get all scientific!

By the way, I saw you at the top of the list for the Chicago show - I'll see you there!
 
ddavelarsen said:
By the way, I saw you at the top of the list for the Chicago show - I'll see you there!
Click to expand...
Im looking forward to meeting you. Do you have a table or are you coming to look?

Michael
 
I'll be one of the fat, ugly guys who pops a fresh Coke over your table and acts like a tourist, Michael... see you boys there, I hope! :p

Dave, I'd like to get a chance to shake yer hand, too, if you'd be willing.....
 
Awesome! Dave got a heat treat oven! Way to go Dave, I can't wait to see what you come up with now. You can even experiment with some of the stainless steels, you'll be able to heat treat 440C so that someone who despises store bought blades made from it would never suspect it was the same steel. I'll be interested to find out from you whether you think it's feasible from a "cost" standpoint for electricity (and time standpoint, I didn't realize they took so long to reach set temperatures) to use it for the simpler steels vs. the alloy rich steels which need the closer and higher temperature contols and longer soak times.
 
Dave: WIll you being using cryo also on the exotics? I figure exotics anything other than 1095 and O-1 for me. Some of the gas people here in St. Louis don't want to fill dewars unless they are the $5000 type. How long does liquid nitogen lst in a sealed dewar? Thanks
 
John L, evaporation rate on a "quality" bull semen 20L Dewar is about 75 mL per day.
 
fitzo said:
John L, evaporation rate on a "quality" bull semen 20L Dewar is about 75 mL per day.
Click to expand...
How can you tell if its "quality" bull seman or just your average run of the mill bull seman that can be purchased on just about every street corner in this fine Country?
 
Experiment, Michael, experiment. ;) You'll know the good stuff when you feel it....
 
adammichael said:
How can you tell if its "quality" bull seman or just your average run of the mill bull seman that can be purchased on just about every street corner in this fine Country?
Click to expand...

fitzo said:
Experiment, Michael, experiment. ;) You'll know the good stuff when you feel it....
Click to expand...

you just look behind you first :rolleyes: :p :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top