Had a guy at a hammer-in tell me to stop quenching in water

At North Carolina Forge Council meeting last month, this old timer walked over and said you're gonna crack that blade so fast. He showed me his canola oil setup and I switched right then. Anyone else have someone fix a bad habit you didn't even know you had?

2 comments

2 Comments

dylanh8113d ago

Water will shock the grain structure on higher carbon steels and cause micro cracks you can't see until it fails later. @nancy_green's dust story is a good reminder that what works in a pinch usually bites you in the ass eventually.

nancy_green13d ago

Happen to know a guy who used a shop vac to suck up steel dust from his grinder, thought he was being smart. One spark and that whole system went up like a firework. He switched to a proper dust collector after that. Your oil thing is spot on though water is fine for some steels but for most modern blade stuff it'll wreck them. Just gotta watch what the metal wants, not what's convenient.