TToch Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Hello, I am new to the forums and blade smithing as a whole, ⎌and I have a few questions. When I first started forging knives I was quenching them in used motor oil (which, from what I've read is horrible) and I have now switched over to canola oil. Was this a wise choice? Or is there another type of oil I should be using? (I don't have a lot of money for professional quenching oil and I'm currently working with junkyard metal like rebar, etc). I'm sure these questions have been beaten to death, but any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdaleh Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Go down to the knifemaking section and get your favorite beverage a comfortable chair and research. Its all been discussed before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Welcome aboard TToch, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge crew live within visiting distance. There is a good week worth of skimming in the bladesmith and heat treating sections here, there's little chance your questions haven't already been answered. I'm no bladesmith guy but I can answer this one. you bet there are better oils for quenching: Quench oil for instance or heat transfer oil, lots of both but yeah they're pretty expensive. Heck if I want to buy some I'd have to buy a 55gl drum or special order a bucket. I use fryer oil I get from the local Safeway when they change fryer oil. I was hoping for the pastry oil but . . . my shop smells like: burritos, fish, fries, etc. when I heat treat instead. I ask nicely, provide a clean 5gl plastic jug with good cap and leave it for overnight. Telling them what I do with it really helps even though they know me and I go as far as possible to make it as easy on them as possible. I check in occasionally to find out when they're changing oil and bring in my jug the evening before. Be sure to put your name on the jug and no, not a tag or tape on label. I felt penned my name and cell #. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TToch Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 17 hours ago, Frosty said: Thanks, I'm really enjoy this website! There are so many friendly people and tons of different things to read about. I really appreciate the quick response and I'll definitely consider using my location. I just wanted to make sure I'm using the proper stuff for quenching, considering it's probably the most important part of the knife making process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 A lot of the quick reply is just timing, early afternoon for me is probably evening for you and I enjoy helping where I can. Probably one of the drawbacks here are all the helpful folk who don't actually know what they're talking about but like to say something. Then again we have to learn to filter anyway. Putting your location in the header helps in a number of ways where just mentioning it in a post isn't much good. In the header it's there on every post so if you ask a question or say someone has something to sell and folk know you're close you might get first pick or invited over. Of course then there are informal hammer ins, BBQs, etc. Just saying in one post isn't going to last once we've opened another one, our memories are pretty full of . . . stuff already you know. It's not a rule but it's more helpful than not. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayakersteve Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Might be nice to know the type of steels/alloys you are working with to give more informed answer to your question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TToch Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 6 hours ago, kayakersteve said: Might be nice to know the type of steels/alloys you are working with to give more informed answer to your question I will eventually be working with 1095 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 then eventually you will want an 8 to 11 second quench oil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kozzy Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 Chevron has an oil specifically for quenching that's listed on many blade-working sites although I can't speak directly to it's use (I'm too cheap). http://www.chevronlubricants.com/en_US/products/products/chevron-quenching-oil-70.html Retail seems to be about $ 50 a gallon or $ 150 for 5 gallons. The reason I bring it up is that there are chevron distributors all over so you might be able to have a local supplier bring it in for you with their regular greasy-stuff shipments--obviously after doing more research on whether it's worth it for your application. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TToch Posted March 11, 2016 Author Share Posted March 11, 2016 I'll have to look into it. From what I've gathered it seems like everyone has different opinions as to what oil you should be using, but it seems like the oil you mentioned is the best, or close to it. I appreciate all the responses everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 We have a couple few bladesmiths who are published authors and much of what you might need to know has been covered any number of times in the bladesmithing and heat treat sections. Different steels prefer different quench rates to attain maximum affect. That begs the question, Do you NEED maximum affect? Making blades is a highly technical specialty to do with any reliability and consistency. Doing so with salvaged steel opens an entirely different specialty, evaluating found steel without having it analyzed is a skill set all it's own. Believe it or not shop testing steel almost never cares what it actually IS, it's how it performs under what conditions and treatments that counts. Another whole skills set. We don't recommend you spend a few days or weeks reading because we don't want to help you succeed. You'll be amazed how much you need to know to even be able to ask good questions let alone understand the answers. so far you're received answers from guys who recognize you don't really know what you're asking for and some from guys who assume you do know. For instance, I know quite a bit about heat treating, been doing it on one level or another all my life, literally my whole life. One of the jobs in Dad's shop was annealing parts so they could spin the next breakdown. By 9 I could anneal brass and silver, bronze didn't require annealing as often and we spun most rocket and jet engine alloys HOT. Were I to want to make a blade I could cut a couple test strips and do some shop heat treat tests. I still wouldn't know if I had good blade steel till I did those tests. Were I to want to make a blade I'd buy new steel and read the appropriate section in heat treating a couple times. Then again I know enough to know how little I actually know. Yes I'm DANGEROUS! I'm not trying to give you a hard time I'd really rather see another accomplished bladesmith posting pics of work that makes me drool on my keyboard. No JOKE some of the gang here make breathtakingly beautiful blades. I'd like you to be one. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted March 11, 2016 Share Posted March 11, 2016 sadly we get a lot of people dropping out of this because they dive in clueless, and refuse to read then get upset and leave when they fail. Blades are not the starting place for smithing. We have to learn the basic skills on moving metal first then work toward making blades. Dont use salvaged steel for blades, If you can not afford to pay $4.50 a pound or less for new steel then you can not afford to make blades yet. Period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TToch Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Well to give a little bit of background on myself, the most formal experience I've had with metal working is from a metal shop class in highschool, other than that I've gained most of my knowledge through watching videos on the Internet and reading forum posts like these. In regards to blade making I'm familiar with the technique to produce the shape as this was the main thing we focused on in class, but I lack experience when it comes to quenching and the actual composition of the metal. For a beginner, what steel would you guys suggest working with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 you were already pointed to these and other answers, start reading them pinned threads and existing topics. in the mean time - keep forging on.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TToch Posted March 12, 2016 Author Share Posted March 12, 2016 Alright, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 TToch: When I was in High school, I graduated in June '70 shop classes were aimed at occupational skills and what they really did was teach you how to use the tools NOT do a job. Grinding a knife blade in high school metal shop class isn't supposed to teach you how to make even ONE knife, you're supposed to learn some basic skills on the grinder. Make and follow patterns, etc sure you might even have made a handle but unless you sent it out to heat treat you didn't make a knife. I took metal shop as soon as it was offered in jr. high and every semester till I graduated, I believe that was 5 semesters of metal shop. Then I took two trade school welding classes to earn my welding certs. Even with all that schooling and certifications in hand I couldn't get a job better than entry level in a shop, after about 3 months they'd assign me a test job. All school teaches you are the tools, not jobs. Oh and none of the knives I sneaked through shop class was really a knife. You can get anything sharp enough to cut but holding an edge is a whole different world. I made a balsa wood knife once that held an edge better than any of my pirated shop class knives. The canon was a different matter, it worked a treat would put a marble through a car side to side. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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