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Old timer told me to stop quenching in water for certain steels...
I had this guy named Joe at the guild meeting in Springfield tell me I was ruining my blades by quenching everything in water. He said for 1095 steel I should be using warm oil instead. I thought he was full of it until I tried it on a kitchen knife I was working on. The thing came out way harder and didn't crack like my last three tries. Has anyone else switched their quench method based on advice from a veteran smith?
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miles_garcia1mo ago
So you're telling me I've been wasting all that time praying over cracked blades when I could've just switched to warm oil like some kind of normal person?
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the_viola1mo ago
Sarah from 6th street told me her grandpa swore by room temperature canola oil for 1084 and said water made his blades brittle every time. Warm oil does work better for 1095 since it cools slower and doesn't shock the steel as much, so Joe wasn't just blowing smoke there. Your kitchen knife test proved it out, water quenching just isn't forgiving enough for those higher carbon steels.
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