What do you guys use for a quench tank?

a half of a medium sized oxygen bottle with a piece of 1/4 inch round plate welded to its bottom... has a hand forged "bail" (water pail type) handle on it so's I can move it around the shop.
 
I saw your picture of your rope cutting comp. knife and really loved it! And I must tell you that's a great job of photography as well....

regard,mitch
 
For a small tank I use a steel 5 gallon bucket.

For a medium tank, a steel rocket case. (about 20 gals)

For a sword tank, a 55 gallon drum!
 
I use a deep fryer that holds about three gallons. Just turn the temp to what you want and the oil it hot in a couple minutes.
 
Bob Warner said:
I use a deep fryer that holds about three gallons. Just turn the temp to what you want and the oil it hot in a couple minutes.
Click to expand...

LOL thats a great idea, Bob! Hey come to think of it, Pitco Fryalator is right up the road about 30 mins from me. I should see if they have any "seconds" for sale!
 
I use an old ammo can for most of my heat treating. Works well and travels well because that integral clamp and seal keeps it water tight and keeps quench from spilling.

A friend of mine uses a rocket launcher tube for much the same reason. He keeps it clamped to his bench with hose clamps. The only time it gets interesting is when he drops the blade and has to fish it out of there....

Tim
 
Pawn shop here has a tall 30 call ammo can like I've never seen before that would be perfect for a quench can. About 18" tall and when you're not using it you could pop the hermetically sealed lid on it and set it aside. I might grab it in case I start doing my own carbon blade heat treating.
 
For full quench blades here's what I use.

quench_tank_2.jpg


It's a modified electric hot water heater. It maintains a constant temperature and circulates the quenchant. The tank is mounted on a dolly so that I can roll it right over beside the heat treat oven when needed. The lid is big pizza pan. The temperature is controlled with the rheostat mounted at the bottom of the tank.

Here's a shot from the top.

quench_tank_4.jpg


No need to email me about how it was made. I didn't make it and I don't have a clue. I can make knives, but I can't nail two boards together with calling someone for help. :D I traded a hunter for it.

###

For edge quenching I use a big, deep stainless steel steam tray. That's those things they use in a cafeteria to keep food hot. You can see it in the first shot on the work bench behind the full quench tank.

I also have a third container that I use for little knives like the Platypus ultra-light. It's a stainless steel mud bucket that is used in drywall work. I ran a bead of J.B. Weld on all the seams to make it water tight. I've used that little thing since about 1993 and it's still working fine (I love J.B. Weld).

To control the temperature on the two edge quench containers I use a hotplate.
 
I use a stainless cake pan on a hotplate. I'd like to find something with more volume because after HTing a few blades the oil becomes too warm. I only do a full quench on double edged blades; for that I use a milk carton. !!! :eek: Naturally, that gets changed out fairly often... :D
 
I really do like Terry's.

For small blades I soldered some large coffee cans together and that tower is setting in a crock pot that I retired for this purpose. There is no flame to cause a fire and the void around the can tower is filled with vegie oil so that it heats the quenchant within the tower pretty quick and does not rust the can(s). I use a digital thermometer to monitor quenchant temperature. NO pictures. Its too ugly for that but works well. I think a real good substitute for the can assembly would be a length of large diameter PVC pipe from the local hardware store. I originally solderd the cans together for stripping gun stock finish but then got into knives so use it for them instead.

RL
 
Wow, thanks everyone...After making my last knife...I realized that the small ammo case I was using is to small.....Thanks for the great ideas...... :D :D :D
 
I split a junk 100lb propane bottle and use half for quenching and the other half holds my vermiculite for annealling.
 
I made for full quench
4 different length tubes out of big exht pipe ( cheep )
and welded 1/4 plate steel on one end of them
acts as a stand and seals the bottom ends,
 
OK Rene
made me take a picture of them and email it to him so since
I did that here are my quench tubes..
oh yes I wanted to add

the un-painted part is where I heat the oil with O/A using a meat thermometer at the top you should agitate the oil to keep the heat even..
quench-tubes.jpg
 
A cheap 12 quart stainless stock pot full of veggie oil, heated by a submersion heater made from an old electric frying pan with everything cut off except the part of the pan where the element is and two "ears" bent over to hang it from the side of the pot.

Oh, and a cake pan full off Goddard's Goop.

It's actually high time I made set my mind to a better set up and a better quenching oil too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top