Small batch heat-treatment?

aarongough

aarongough

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Mar 12, 2013
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Hey guys!
I'm trying to work out what the best method is for heat-treating small batches (around 4-5) of A2 knives in my shop. These blades will be air-quenched.

I have an 18" Evenheat kiln, and the main thing that I'm worried about is line-of-sight heating from the coils, as I understand it if I have several blades in the kiln with the blades vertical then the outer blades will likely be over-heated as they'll be directly in sight of the elements... Those outer blades will cast a shadow onto the inner blades and therefore the heat they see will be different.

Is this really an issue? If so what is the best way to deal with this? Some sort of steel/refractory baffle in between the knives and the elements?

I'm also thinking that I need to come up with some sort of fixture for handling several blades as a group. I was thinking something like this:

QCckBC1l.jpg


This would let me pull 4-5 blades from the kiln in one go and then hang them to cool. Any thoughts on this? I could handle the blades individually as well I guess, I would still need some sort of racking (like the rack that evenheat sells) in the kiln. I'm curious what you guys generally do for this sort of thing.

Any input is appreciated!
-Aaron
 
The threaded rod does work I do it every batch I make but only on steel I oil quench. I just keep the knives a little wider apart in the middle and grab them with my tongs. You have just got to be carful not to hit the side of your kiln when removing them because you will warp them. Regarding your question about deflection. Speaking for myself here but all my blades come out the same RC when they are done in a batch. I have the same kiln.
 
Marko3 said:
The threaded rod does work I do it every batch I make but only on steel I oil quench. I just keep the knives a little wider apart in the middle and grab them with my tongs. You have just got to be carful not to hit the side of your kiln when removing them because you will warp them. Regarding your question about deflection. Speaking for myself here but all my blades come out the same RC when they are done in a batch. I have the same kiln.
Click to expand...

Thanks Marko!
Funnily enough I hadn't thought about just leaving some extra space in the middle for tongs, that makes a lot of sense!

Good to hear the general concept is not too outlandish.

Do you place your blades right on the floor of the kiln? No other setup or fixtures?
 
I have a ceramic fixture that I think I got from evenheat. But I suppose its not really necessary . But it does help protect the soft brick floor.
 
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