Soluable oils for quench?

[Steve Hayden]

Basically I have stayed away from water quenching. I have had good luck using fast quenching oils, but it just occurred to me while reading the 52100 water quench thread that maybe using a soluable oil and water mixture like on machine tools might work if you wanted something faster than the quenching oils and safer than water.

Any ideas other than that I am an idiot and should stay with what I know works?

 

[Raymond Richard]

Pretty sure Don Fogg uses some type of water based quenchent. We already know your an idiot, most knifemakers are. Thats part of the requirement.

 

[Matthew Gregory]

We already know your an idiot, most knifemakers are. Thats part of the requirement.

Man! That's a relief! I always assumed it was a coincidence that I was an idiot AND I try to make knives. Explains a lot of my posts, too, I'll bet.

Not sure I understand the need for such a fast quenchant with 52100... seems to me the only way it would be usable as a knife would be tempered back, anyway - even at the edge itself. RC 65 just seems WAY to brittle, unless I'm just missing something -- which I won't rule out, see above sentence. Are we talking a knife entirely made of 52100, or a San Mai with something softer around a 52100 core that you want psycho-hard?