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Hot take: quenching in warm oil ruined my last batch of blades
Everyone says to keep your oil between 120-140F for a good quench. I tried it at room temp on purpose after my heater broke last Tuesday. Six out of eight blades came out way harder and I didn't get any cracking. The two that didn't harden were thin scrap pieces anyway. Been doing it cold ever since and it works better for me. Any other smiths tried the opposite of standard advice and had it work out?
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carter.julia17d ago
you also gotta think about the steel itself, not just the oil temp. like, if you're using 1095 or W2, your margins for error are already super tight with the soak times. colder oil might let you get away with a less perfect soak because it pulls the heat out so fast it locks in the austenite before it can pearlite out. but with O1 or stuff like 5160, that slower quench speed from warm oil is actually what you want to stop the cracking. so it's not just one trick that works for everything, it's about matching your quench to the specific hardenability of the alloy.
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jason_fisher417d ago
Wait, so you're telling me I've been heating my oil for nothing this whole time lol?
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