What did I do wrong...or accidentally right?

[SpankySmith]

Hoping someone can tell me what I did wrong here, though I have to admit to kinda liking it...I just don't know how it happened. I was making some very basic hooks this weekend from round stock, mild steel. Final heat, I took them out of the forge, a couple taps to true them up, then oil quench because I like the dark color it takes on. But end of the day, strangely, I noticed this tiger stripe / snake skin kind of coloring on some but not all of the hooks. ??? Same process on all, all quenched in newish (not used) motor oil. I've never seen this, haven't read anything about it. Help?

[ThomasPowers]

looks rather like the pattern the scale breaking up gets

[jeremy k]

Looks like you didn't wire brush them after forging and before you quenched them. It's as simple as wire brushing them while at a red heat, to remove that.

[SpankySmith]

That makes sense and you're right, I didn't brush them, was not even sure they'd be keepers, just playing around for an hour one day. Figured it was some simple Newb mistake, just wasn't sure what caused it. Live and learn.

So...if I WANTED to cause that "problem" I just toss it in the oil when it's deeply scaled? Hmmm...might have to hold onto that for future use. I think I'll call it the Spanky Pattern. :)

[Frosty]

That makes sense and you're right, I didn't brush them, was not even sure they'd be keepers, just playing around for an hour one day. Figured it was some simple Newb mistake, just wasn't sure what caused it. Live and learn.

So...if I WANTED to cause that "problem" I just toss it in the oil when it's deeply scaled? Hmmm...might have to hold onto that for future use. I think I'll call it the Spanky Pattern. :)

 

I'll be looking forward to finding out how well the pattern lasts. I don't know if you can legitimately name that particular pattern, there's a good reason nobody had to guess how it happened. In the old days it probably had a name something like, "that lazy apprentice got it wrong again, make the lout do it again and get it right," pattern.

 

If on the other hand you can make it reasonably durable as is, naming it might be your responsibility.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[SpankySmith]

It's very smooth, to my inexperienced eye I don't see any way to rub it out or off unless I purposely take sandpaper or grinder to it. I may experiment with it on a flat piece and then see if I can freeze it in place with a clear coat.

My first thought on this was that the way I dipped a couple pieces in the oil caused it...I had the hooks in tongs and put a couple in too hot, as soon as they touched the oil they wanted to flame, so I immediately pulled it out for maybe two to five seconds before slowly dipping it back in. The pattern almost looks like variable cooling of some type.

But I'm still a Newb, what do I know. Except that even the mistakes and discovery are still just loads o fun!

[turbo7]

accidentally right, looks good

[Frosty]

The varigation in finish is caused by the differences in porosity. Scale is more or less porous depending on how much oxy is bound and so will absorb more or less oil. The more oil the more carbon residue in the scale and the darker it is.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[SpankySmith]

Thanks Frosty.  I gave the one I took a photo of a first clear coat, it looks good at first coat, we'll see how it holds up.  Will keep it in my "personal collection" to torture test it.  I'm also anxious to return to the forge this weekend and do some experimenting with better wire brushing to see if that totally eliminates that pattern, and then purposely leaving something full of scale to see if I can replicate it.  As I say when computer users call me and SWEAR the computer just did something kafluey.... show me... make it happen again... otherwise it didn't really happen at all!  :D