Vinegrette quench for shallow hardening steels?

R

RX-79G

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Jun 23, 2006
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Re-reading the quenchant sticky by Kevin and running across a post about using two different quenchents got me thinking:

Why not combine brine and oil in one container for quenching. A 3 inch layer of warm oil poured on top of room temperature brine or water would give you the ability to initially quench the hot blade in fast acting brine for the first second or two, then raising it into the oil to complete the quench at a lower cooling rate than water or brine are capable of.

I don't know if this would totally solve the problem of vapor jacket unevenness, but it would better insure a deep quench on shallow hardening carbon steels while evening out the rest of the cooling curve. Another potential benefit would be the ability to use a wider selection of oils since the most critical part of the quench is in water.

Heat transfer between the two liquids could be an issue, but if the quench vessel is is long and narrow it will minimize the shared surface area between the oil and water, decreasing the transfer speed. It would really be a question of how hot the water is going to get from the oil poured into it in the time before the quench, and how hot the steam rising out of the water is going to make the oil. With the right temp start points for both it could probably be worked out reliably.

Let me guess: Been done before and it is a bad idea. I'm just curious why.
 
you could also put the blade evenly between theses layes and get a differential temper. only problem I can think of is the boiling water throwing up hot oil, and its a tad impractical once your actually doing it
 
Actually, that was a common practice at one time....to lessen the
severity of the quench.

I'd suspect that lack of safety, consistancy, and the availability of better
quenchants contributed to the practice's loss of popularity.
 
Last edited:
Well, maybe I ought to give it a go, then.

I can see how the steam might potentially throw some oil up, but the oil isn't likely to be hot enough to burn skin.
 
Be sure and wear protective goggles, gloves and clothing.
Or, post from the burn unit......
BTW- if the vessel is long and narrow, you increase the likelihood and velocity of the ejected heated oil and water. Steam is a very powerful thing. Add hot oil, and you have a potentially hazardous situation.
 
Note...It wasn't my intent to make it sound like a good idea...Post
edited.
 
Noted. Thanks for everyone's comments.

Would the results be much different than using two side by side contains of water and oil? I like the efficiency of always being in a quenchant, but a momentary stop while going from one to the other might not be a problem. If so, what would the best timing be? 2 seconds then switch? Since 1095 has to get below critical within a second, a one count might be sufficient.

I like doing water quenches, and I thought this might be a way of continuing to do them while mitigating the downside.
 
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