Things you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask Kevin

Tai Goo

Tai Goo

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Here's my question:

What quenching medium do you use... Where do you get it... How much does it cost... What temperature do you like it,... and why?
 
Here's my question:

What quenching medium do you use... Where do you get it... How much does it cost... What temperature do you like it,... and why? what's your new steel?
 
Virgin female goat urine stolen from Bastid's pen on summer solstice midnights.
 
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Tai you bastard! You intentionally used my name in a thread title knowing that I hate that!:D

However, I am not sure if this question is for me or if you are asking people for input what they would be afraid to ask or tell me? They do need to be careful, a quick I.P. address lookup would allow me to find out in what part of the country they use quenchants that do not have the official Cashen stamp of approval, and I have quenchant police operatives in every state.:cool:

For me:

Park Metallurgical / Heatbath corp. Thermoquench salts, running at 400F-420F. around $300 for a 400lb. drum. or Park Metallurgical / Heatbath corp #50 quench oil running from 100F-130F $275 per 55 gallon drum. Why? Because I am a technically neurotic geek and have found total control, absolute repeatability and predicitibility in them.
 
You disappoint me Kevin. :(

Everyone knows that a mixture of honey, vinegar, mayonnaise, peanut oil, chicken fat, mustard, pepper sauce and chocolate works best. LOL :D
 
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Right now, using Aldo's 1084 and some of his W2, I'm sticking with Parks 50. I got some from Darren Ellis before they ran out. I recall a thread some time ago that reccomended that #50 be used at about 140*F for fastest speed, so that's about where I use it.

I have been playing with interrupting the quench, and thus far seem to have better results with the 1084 when I interrupt between a 6 to an 8 count, but that's at a speed that I know I can reproduce quite consistantly, but may not correlate to an equivilant amount of seconds or such.
 
Tai Goo said:
You disappoint me Kevin. :(

Everyone knows that a mixture of honey, vinegar, mayonnaise, peanut oil, chicken fat, mustard, pepper sauce and chocolate works best. LOL :D
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Mayonnaise! Mayo is only good for the 41XX series of alloys! Chocolate can only be used for martempering if the pepper sauce is jalapeno or better. Habanero though can be used for austempering:thumbup:
 
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Kevin R. Cashen said:
Mayonnaise! Mayo is only good for the 41XX series of alloys! Chocolate can only be used for martempering if the pepper sauce is jalapeno or better. Hananero though can be used for austempering:thumbup:
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Oh, How foolish of me. :(
 
Interestingly enough, the capsaicin that makes these peppers we all love so much hot like they are is also (strangely enough) an anti inflammatory. This means that there is nothing to fear from the water content in the vinegar and chicken fat, as the anti inflammatory effects will all but eliminate the vapor jacket issue, so we don't get cracked blades nearly as often. Thus, even when not austempering, I would reccomend the habanero sauce to help make the overall quenchant more stable.
 
Kevin R. Cashen said:
Mayonnaise! Mayo is only good for the 41XX series of alloys! Chocolate can only be used for martempering if the pepper sauce is jalapeno or better. Hananero though can be used for austempering:thumbup:
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Mayo is also good for chicken and turkey sammiches! :thumbup: You guys are making me hungry! BTW...what's the best method for heat treating chicken? -Matt-
 
Chickens are best heat treated on a can of guiness on the grill. Open a can of a dark, heavy lager, and keeping it upright, insert it as far as it will go into the cavity of the chicken. Put the chicken upright on the grill. For best results, real hardwood charcoal should be used. Some mesquite chips on the charcoal can be helpful to some, but I find this makes a flavor that is just too buisy for my palate.

Keep the chicken on the heat, basting every 5 minutes or so with the same brand of beer, until either the beer has completely boiled away, or the meat starts to separate from the bone, whichever happens last.

Air quench until just uncomfortable to touch. If you aren't going to use it for a while, a low temp treatment can be used to preserve the "timbre", but if you are going to do that, I reccomend a good temper before use.
 
I always wanted to know, when they make a batch of steel, how do things like tungsten work into the solution without burning the steel?
 
Dan Zawacki said:
Chickens are best heat treated on a can of guiness on the grill. Open a can of a dark, heavy lager, and keeping it upright, insert it as far as it will go into the cavity of the chicken. Put the chicken upright on the grill. For best results, real hardwood charcoal should be used. Some mesquite chips on the charcoal can be helpful to some, but I find this makes a flavor that is just too buisy for my palate.

Keep the chicken on the heat, basting every 5 minutes or so with the same brand of beer, until either the beer has completely boiled away, or the meat starts to separate from the bone, whichever happens last.

Air quench until just uncomfortable to touch. If you aren't going to use it for a while, a low temp treatment can be used to preserve the "timbre", but if you are going to do that, I reccomend a good temper before use.
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I've heard of this HT method before, but I'm gonna have to try it now that I have a charcoal powered food heat treater! Thanks Dan! -Matt-
 
Dan Zawacki said:
Chickens are best heat treated on a can of guiness on the grill. Open a can of a dark, heavy lager, and keeping it upright, insert it as far as it will go into the cavity of the chicken. Put the chicken upright on the grill. For best results, real hardwood charcoal should be used. Some mesquite chips on the charcoal can be helpful to some, but I find this makes a flavor that is just too buisy for my palate.

Keep the chicken on the heat, basting every 5 minutes or so with the same brand of beer, until either the beer has completely boiled away, or the meat starts to separate from the bone, whichever happens last.

Air quench until just uncomfortable to touch. If you aren't going to use it for a while, a low temp treatment can be used to preserve the "timbre", but if you are going to do that, I reccomend a good temper before use.
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I just throw the chicken in a pan to fry and pour the beer down my cavity (the upper one) every 15 to 20mins. After heat treating this way for while any chicken taste good.
 
Interestingly enough, the capsaicin that makes these peppers we all love so much hot like they are is also (strangely enough) an anti inflammatory


.....yer obviously kidding;)
 
i got a few questions for you kevin if you don't mind......

1)what knifemakers past or present do you look up to...admire their designs etc.....could you elaborate a little on why you picked the makers u did

2)did you have a mentor when you learned how to make knives or did u go tot the school of hard knocks?

3)what is the MOST misunderstood aspect of knifemaking(in your eyes)

4)what is the longest blade you have ever made?

5)do you smoke a pipe while forging?

those are all that i could think of right now...i really like reading your posts even if i don't understand it all...hopefully one day i will....thanks for any info kevin....ryan
 
.....yer obviously kidding
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nope. Hot peppers have been used for a long time for their anti inflammatory properties.

Capsaicin as anti-inflammatory: In recent years, researchers discovered that capsaicin is a potent anti-inflammatory, and have even pinpointed how it works to fight chronic, sub-clinical inflammation. The nuclei of human cells contain chemicals called nuclear transcription factors (NTFs), two of which—activator protein 1 (AP-1) and NF-kappa B—are especially important targets when it comes to prevention of cancer and premature aging of skin. Each of these NTFs can be "activated" by ultraviolet light and free radicals: a result that produces a pro-inflammatory chain reaction that promotes premature aging and a wide variety of degenerative diseases. As it turns out, nature offers several effective NTF-activation blockers, including the capsaicin in chilies, and the yellow pigment curcumin in turmeric.
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I love the wording of this; "in recent years". These peppers have been known to be potent medicine my many and varied cultures the world over for a very long time.
 
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