Tried a new way to quench my last batch of knives and the difference is huge

For years I've been quenching my 1084 steel blades in just plain old vegetable oil, the kind from the grocery store. It worked okay, but I always had some warping and the hardness wasn't as even as I wanted. Last month, I finally bought a 5-gallon pail of Parks 50 quench oil after hearing other smiths talk about it. I used it on three identical hunter blades I forged last week. The result was night and day. The Parks oil cooled the steel way faster and more evenly. All three blades came out straight as an arrow, and my file skated off the edge like glass. I didn't have to spend any time straightening them, which saved me a good hour of work. The cost was about $120 for the pail, but it's already worth it for the time and steel I'm not wasting. Has anyone else made a switch like this and been shocked by the improvement?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan_thomas3d ago

Man, you were basically trying to put out a house fire with a squirt gun all those years. Vegetable oil? That's the kind of hack you see in a late-night "I forged a knife in my backyard" youtube short. Parks 50 is the real deal, it's like going from a bicycle to a sports car for quenching. The fact you didn't have to straighten a single blade says it all. That's not just an upgrade, that's finding out the game has cheat codes.

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noraj793d ago

Wait, you can quench blades in vegetable oil? That sounds like a recipe for setting your garage on fire.