Substandard quenchants

[Darrin Sanders]

A fair amount of research has been linked on this forum in the past to canola oil being used as a quenchant. We really know very little about Parks quechants and are still waiting for MSDS sheets to show up and information on how extensively is it really used in industry. Obviously Parks is a great quenchant but how much is is actually used in large industries as a quenchant? What quenchant is the steel industry and manufacturer actually using? I have not seen anything about that.

It would be great to actually see a comparison of Parks quenchants against several others.

Canola does work if you know what to do with the steel you are using. Parks works great. But it sure would be nice to see some data sheets and research on Parks just so we know why it is "Better" as some say.

I don't know why but I know that Parks #50 works better for me than Canola because I have tested them both by making blades from the same bar of steel and using both quenchants. Parks #50 makes a better blade when using MY PROCEDURES AND MY EQUIPMENT. Other peoples procedures and equipment may produce different results.

 

[Tai Goo]

There is no single quenching medium that always yields the best results for all steels, geometries or applications.

The primary advantage of engineered quenching mediums is that they cut costs, or save money over time in high volume situations, because of greater stability.

There is no scientific evidence to support the ideas that engineered fluids always yield the best results across the board, or that the odds are any better, just because they are man made and have the highest initial cost.

I haven't found any exact figures as to the life span or number of quenches, before any of the oils start to lose their desirable properties.

 

[jdm61]

How can it be a "widely accepted fact" when the vast majorioty of people know absolutely nothing about quenching oils regardless of their composition?

It’s a widely accepted fact, that the long term negative ecological impact of using vegetable oil based quenchants is, or would be, less than the petroleum based oils. It’s the lesser of the evils.

 

[Tai Goo]

Well,... we seem to know a lot more about canola than we do about the engineered oils. The engineered fluids seem to be taken more on "faith". In and of themselves, the petroleum oils are potentially much more dangerous/hazardous than the vegetable oils... There is no scientific evidence to support the idea that the engineered petroleum based oils are better, just because they are much more dangerous/hazardous.

The skepticism against the vegetable oils has actually been a good thing for them, and they have gained a lot of ground because of it.

 

[Britt_Askew]

Going on what I have read on this forum I purchased some parks50 from the start. If I am going to make a knife I want it to be the best it could be. But for a while now I have seen some people that have their mind made up that canola is better. When the cost of enough quench oil to last for years can be covered with the price of 1 knife why would you want anything but the best ?? I dont care if my oil is called engineered quenchant , all natural vegetable oil , virgin unicorn urine, or eel snot I want the stuff that will give me the best finished product . I have went and got me some canola and will be doing my own side by side testing and my results will be scientific enough for me.

 

[Tai Goo]

For those who are truely interested in vegetable oil quenchants, here are a few good links and reading. These have been posted several times before, but here they are again for reference:

http://www.industrialheating.com/Articles/Feature_Article/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000001097301

http://books.google.com/books?id=io...&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.jtcustomknives.com/calendar/files/1/Vegetable Oil Quenchants.pdf

Laboratory studies and comparisons have already been done many times, and all conclude essentially the same things. There doesn’t seem to be the type of disagreement or debate among the scientific community, as there is with knifemakers.