Last question for a while ,I promise.

I agree with most of that and think it was well put.

The only clarification might be that in a hypothetical situation with a quenching medium on the conservative side, if the blade were to fully harden half way up with a full quench,… theoretically, if the temps., and times were on target, there would be more of a gradual drop off in hardness towards the spine due to the thermal gradient from thin to thick. It wouldn’t be black and white, like with a clay quench. The spine should still have a relatively high degree of hardness (unless the quenching medium is way too slow),… usually enough to support the edge, add structural mass, weight and things of that nature.

However, I think that in some cases fully hardend all the way up through the spine would be theoretically better and could make a difference in the field. If you want to play it extra safe,… and if you have other reasonable or possibly better options, only use canola or any vegetable oil on 1095 pieces 1/8 to 3/16 inch thick, at there thickest point,… if you feel getting the spine fully hardened is a critical issue on any particular blade.
 
flatblackcapo said:
is their any source for a professional quenchent that would be more ideal than canola that would cost less than $40-50?I do realize the benefits of a quenchent that is specifically engineered for the type of steel I am using.I just can not justify spending over $100 to quench 2 blades.
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Regarding alternatives to Parks 50, I've had good luck with McMaster Carr 11 second quench oil. Here are some samples of various thicknesses of 1095 after RC testing.


Far superior to my results with canola or peanut oil and basically the same price as those were plus shipping.
 
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The best we’ve been able to get with the 1095 and canola we’ve tested, is 65-66 on 1/8 inch, and 64-65 on 3/16 inch.

I can get canola for about $8 a gallon at the corner grocery store.
 
Thanks a ton you guys! It does not matter much to me if I get full hardness all the way through the spine on my knife. I don't see myself using that thing hard, in fact I have no idea what I would actually use that thing for. It is kind of a odd knife for me, It started life as a cut off piece. It had that general shape and I just went with it. I wanted to try out the idea of hallow grinding one side and flat grinding the other. So...POOF , the kamisori cleaver was born. To tell the truth I would not cry too much if it warped or cracked but I hate to do anything half a##. I have told a guy that I would do the HT on his knife at the same time I did mine and if I can not do it correctly I will not do it at all. Well, enough rambling. Thank you guys very much for your time and sharing your knowledge. I will let you know how it goes.
 
A student of mine actually did the testing and it’s been a while. I don’t remember all the specifics, but I think it was 120-130,... I think it was un-agitated and he got the highest readings quenching from upward around 1550-1600, a bit higher than what's often recommended. I have other friends and students that have run side by side comparisons with canola and some other mediums, including commercial oils on various steels. I don’t remember all the specifics other than the canola performed better on some steels than others, but overall seemed like a good alternative quenching medium, even for difficult to harden steels.

Sorry it’s all second hand information,… but first hand I’ve had good results on 1095 with 130 canola. I usually keep the blades 1/8 or under when full quenching. For edge quenched blades, quench lines, hamons and stuff like that I’ve gone up to 1/4- 3/8 inch at the spine.
 
Use canola oil, as was stated about eight bucks a gallon, it's cheap and it really works. I took an old .50 ammo can and installed a 120V water heater element with a sheet metal cover over the element. When the meat thermometer stuck in the oil says around 130-150 it's quench time. Total cost of my quench tank was about $12. I had the ammo can and like the man said, $8 a gallon for canola oil. No need to make it more complicated than it is.
 
The price can vary a little. I usually pick it on sale for $8. It comes up regularly at that price. I think it’s normally about $10. Best case scenario, it’s on sale on "senior day", 10% discount on top of the sale price.
 
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