What did I do wrong with cold treat?

panch0

panch0

Joined
Jun 16, 2008
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I bought about 4lbs of dry ice and a gallon on denatured alchohol. I put the ice in first and then the alchohol. I put the blades in around 600pm and it is after 9pm and I don't think the dry ice will last overnight to cold treat these knives.Should I have added more dry ice? Thanks!
 
I've used dry ice and kerosene several times. I just put enough liquid in to make a good slush. Maybe a gallon was too much?
 
Opinions vary as to how long the cold treatment has to last. As I understand it, it's part of the quenching process and time at temp isn't super critical, as long as the hardened steel gets down to temp.

What type steel are you treating? From what I've read, low-alloy steels don't need cryo at all, and high alloy steels definitely need it to achieve their full potential.

I am NOT a HT expert by any means! I'm just thinking out loud.
 
It is cmp154. It is 11pm here and I still have a bit of dry ice left in there but it will only last another hour or two.
 
Your blades are OK, Frank. That will be long enough to finish the conversion to martensite.
 
What type of container did you use? I use a small 2" thick foam cooler inside a bigger 2" thick cooler. 1lb. of dry ice will last 36 hours inside it.
 
It is a small Styrofoam cooler ontop of some more Styrofoam and it wrapped with towels.
 
That's the problem,not enough insulation.But if it lasted 4-5 hours your gonna be fine.
Stan
 
dry ice is cheap , get more than what you think you need . Then relax with a cocktail and don't fret over it .;)
 
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